


Edging Toward a Better Life

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-26
Updated: 2013-01-26
Packaged: 2017-11-27 01:07:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/656340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Laura was killed she left behind a baby. Derek has custody and he gets a little help from Stiles to raise her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Edging Toward a Better Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Teen Wolf Reverse Bang. Picks up where Season 2 leaves off, pretty much, except in this world Peter Hale was never resurrected. Based on beautiful artwork by chosenfire28 that can be found [here.](http://chosenfire28.livejournal.com/276129.html)
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“Dude, I just came back from Derek’s and I have some stuff to tell you about the Alpha Pack,” Scott said, coming in the door to Stiles’ room and sitting down backwards in his computer chair, so that he was facing where Stiles’ was laying on the bed. 

“So, tell me,” Stiles responded, sitting up straighter and tossing his trig textbook to the side. This was far more interesting and possibly even more important than his homework. 

“Well, he said they aren’t really posing a threat yet. They just wanted him to know they were here. He said so far they seem to just be scoping out the territory and seeing how many other werewolves are around. He thinks they’re actually more interested in fighting the Argent’s than us and they’re just scoping us out to see if any of us would help them with that,” Scott said. His eyes were widened and he was fidgeting in his chair and Stiles knew he was worrying about how safe Allison would be now that they were here.  

“Oh wow, that’s actually a surprising amount of information for you to be able to drag out of Derek,” Stiles said, “Did he tell you why they’re interested in the Argents?” 

“They apparently killed one of the Alpha pack members a couple of months ago. They want revenge for that. Get this though, there was something really weird going on at Derek’s house. While I was over there I could have sworn I heard a baby crying. And when it started Derek got really distracted and pretty much refused to talk to me anymore, making up some excuse for why he had to go.” 

“That is really weird…even for Derek,” Stiles said. 

“Yeah, well, listen I have to go. I’m supposed to be helping my mom with lunch,” Scott said. “If I’m not back soon she’ll ground me again.” 

“Okay, well I’ll see you later, man,” Stiles replied, waving as Scott left the room. He picked up his textbook and tried to go back to studying, but before long his curiosity got the best of him, and he stood up and grabbed his keys. He had to know why the hell there was a baby crying at Derek’s house.

Ten minutes later, Stiles pulled into Derek’s driveway, got out of his jeep and looked up at Derek’s house. He was always amazed that the thing was even still standing. The back was almost completely gone, along with the whole top floor, and the rest of it looked like a gust of wind could come through and push it over. Derek was standing on the porch in front of the door, having heard Stiles pull up. 

“Do you have a baby here?” Stiles asked crossing the front yard and leaning against a tree near the front porch. 

“What?” Derek asked his arms crossed across his chest, standing deliberately in front of the door; making it pretty clear to Stiles that he was not going to be invited in. 

“Do you have a baby here?” Stiles repeated, slowly and deliberately, emphasizing each word. “Scott said he heard one crying.” 

“Scott’s an idiot,” Derek responded, crossing his arms tighter. 

“Pretty sure he knows what a baby sounds like. Also, fuck you, I’m the only one allowed to call him an idiot, because I'm just messing around when I do, unlike you who is being an asshole.”

Derek just glared for a while but Stiles stood his ground, staring back unblinkingly. “Can you just get off my property?” Derek finally said. 

“Not until you let me see the baby,” Stiles replied, taking a step forward.  

“There is no baby,” Derek said his voice gruff, exasperation seeping into every syllable, but his words were contradicted by the loud cry that broke the brief silence. Derek seemed to flinch slightly. 

Stiles smile grew by at least three sizes, “Oh really, no baby, huh?” he said taking a few more steps forward, moving hurriedly up the stairs onto the porch and ducking past Derek. 

“Stiles, no,” Derek yelled reaching out and grabbing Stiles by the collar before shoving him against the peeling wood of the front door, “leave now,” he said, his voice harsh. He was standing so close that Stiles could feel his breath puff out across his cheek. 

“Derek what is the problem here I just want to help. I am fantastic with babies. They love me.”

“I don’t need your help.” 

“I beg to differ,” Stiles scoffed. 

Derek leaned in even closer, eyes essentially becoming slits and Stiles shrunk a little under the heat of his gaze, but didn’t back down. 

“Dude, I just mean you can’t keep a baby here, this place is falling apart. Do you even have a crib?”

“YES. I. HAVE. A. CRIB,” Derek said, punctuating each word separately, his annoyance evident. 

“Calm down, grumpy pants, it was just a question. Please just let me see the baby. I promise not to help you in anyway,” Stiles said, “Scout’s honor” he added holding up three fingers. 

Derek took a small step backward, his jaw set in a hard line, “And then you leave?” he asked.

“And then I leave,” Stiles promised. 

“Okay.” 

Stiles threw his fist in the air in achievement, breaking out in a giant smile, as Derek led the way to a room at the back of the house. 

He stopped in a crooked doorway and turned back toward Stiles, “Don’t make me regret this.”

“Dude, relax. I’m not here to like kidnap her or anything. I just like babies. You know, they’re…cute, and fun and stuff.”

Derek was quiet for a moment, appraising Stiles’ response, but finally he turned and entered the room Stiles following close behind. 

Stiles gravitated toward the crib at the center of the room and leaned over, “Hi there baby,” he said, smiling at her and reaching down, but before he could actually touch her Derek grabbed his wrist. 

“Seriously, dude, we’re still doing this?” Stiles asked. 

“I said you could see her. You see with your eyes not your hands,” Derek replied gruffly. 

“Wow, that is one astute observation,” Stiles replied his tone heavily sarcastic. “I promise I’m not going to hurt her,” he said, meeting Derek’s eyes with a pleading intensity. 

Derek drew his hand back slowly and nodded almost imperceptibly. 

Stiles picked her up and cradled her gently, looking down at her, “Hi there baby. Your guardian wolf person is a little overprotective, but I can understand it. If I was in charge of a baby as cute as you I’d want to make sure she was safe too. You know you even kind of look like him a bit,” Stiles said, glancing over at Derek. 

“She was my sister’s,” he admitted and Stiles shared a sad smile of understanding with him before looking back down at the baby. He held out his finger for her to grab and the second her little fingers were wrapped around it she smiled and her eyes flashed a bright blue color. 

“Um, what the hell was that?” Stiles asked. 

“She’s a born werewolf. Her eyes already flash when she’s happy or angry or feeling another strong emotion. That was a little different though. Werewolf babies form a special bond with people who are family, and for some reason, she just did that with you. 

“How do you know?” Stiles asked. 

“Their heartbeat picks up and then slows down again in a really specific pattern. I’ve heard it a lot when my younger cousins first saw their parents or other family members and bonded with them and then I heard it again the first time I picked her up, and again just now when her eyes flashed at you,” Derek said looking at the little one with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. 

“Oh, so, uh, what exactly does that mean?” Stiles asked. 

Derek swallowed, clenching his jaw, “She’ll trust you, totally and implicitly, and she’ll feel a need to protect you, especially when she gets older, and she’ll expect you to be around a lot and if you aren’t it will upset and confuse her, which is the only reason I’m even telling you this. I need for her to be happy and now that this has happened, she’s not going to be happy if you’re never around.” 

“Does that mean you’ll actually let me see her?” Stiles asked and Derek gave him a hard look. 

“You’re not freaked out?” 

“No way. This is actually pretty awesome. A werewolf just like magically bonded with me. If you were trying to claim it was some freaky love connection like in _Twilight_ then I’d be a little weirded out, but this? This is pretty cool.” Stiles said, “But you said it’s something that happens with family….so why me?” 

Derek paused for a moment, weighing his answer, a muscle jumping wildly in his jaw, “Werewolf families are usually kind of big, but I’m the only person she has now, maybe she’s so desperate for family that it just kind of happened.” 

Just then, there was a loud noise outside the house. “It sounds like your house is finally giving up and caving in on itself,” Stiles said.

“Shit,” Derek said, ignoring him and shifting into werewolf form on reflex. “It’s part of the Alpha Pack. I don’t think they’re here to fight, but I still don’t want them to find out about her.” 

“Just go outside and talk to them. I’ll watch her.” 

Derek paused for a moment. He seemed to be searching for another option before apparently deciding that he would have to live with this one and nodding appreciatively at Stiles before running outside. 

Stiles looked down at the tiny baby he was still carrying and began to speak in a soothing voice, “Hey little girl. There is nothing to be afraid of, all right? Your uncle is going to be right back, but it’s really important for you to stay quiet for me. Can you do that for me?” he asked, turning slow circles in the middle of the floor and rocking her gently. 

He knew she couldn’t understand him, but it was important to keep her from crying and giving them away. So, he was just trying to keep her calm. He trailed his finger down the soft skin of her face, sticking the tip of his finger into her gummy mouth and letting her bite down. He hadn’t been around babies before so he didn’t really know what to do, but talking to her like this seemed to be keeping her pretty calm.

“Your uncle is pretty good at this werewolf stuff. He’s a lot better at werewolf stuff then he usually is with communication though, so it’s a toss up how this little meeting outside is going to go. I know that he’s going to keep you safe though. So, don’t you worry about anything.” 

There was a shuffle of noise in the doorway of the room and Stiles looked over to see that Derek was back already. He was leaning against the doorway of the room, a slight smile on his face, an indication to Stiles that things must have gone okay with the pack. 

“What’d they want?” Stiles asked. 

“They think I’m lying about the size of my pack. They want to meet in the woods tonight to talk. Probably just an excuse to size us up, but I can’t leave her here alone.” 

“I can take her to my house. You could come get her when it’s over.” 

“You can not possibly be serious,” Derek replied stepping further into the room, and taking the baby back from Stiles. 

“Why? I mean, I know we don’t exactly get along but I’m a decent human being and I’m not going to sit here and ignore the fact that you really need a babysitter who knows about this stuff and isn’t going to like turn her over to some government experiment if she pops out fangs or something,” Stiles said. 

Derek was silent for a moment considering, so Stiles went on, “Plus, we’re family now. Me and her, and by extension I guess that means me and you kind of are too. We have to learn to respect each other.” 

Derek was silent for another minute, but in the end his need for the baby to be safe seemed to win over his constant irritation with Stiles. 

“Fine, can you take her now? I need to go find my pack, and try to persuade Scott to come too.” 

“Yeah, and actually I can talk to Scott for you.” 

“Make sure he knows it’ll be safer for him if he comes. If the Alpha Pack finds out he doesn’t affiliate himself with anyone they are extremely likely to target him. Tell him to meet us in the preserve at 10.” 

“Okay, got it.” 

“You’re going to need some stuff for her,” Derek said, nodding toward the baby still in Stiles’ arms. “Her name is Anna, by the way. I don’t really want to talk about it, but I just recently got custody of her.” 

“Wait, you do actually have custody, don’t you. You didn’t like kidnap her or anything.” 

“Stiles, what, no. Are you going to listen or are you going to joke around all night?” 

“Sorry, sorry. I’m listening.” 

“Okay. Get her carseat out of my car and I’ll meet you out there with some other stuff she’ll need.”   

“Got it, Sir,” Stiles said, saluting while Derek rolled his eyes. 

He walked back out of the house, the floor boards groaning under his feet, and dust picking up in little swirls around his shoes. 

He opened the back door of Derek’s car and unhooked the carseat moving it to the backseat of his car and hooking it up to the best of his ability. 

He turned around and Derek was coming out of the front of his house with Anna in one arm and a faded plaid diaper bag over the other shoulder. 

Stiles nearly doubled over with laughter. 

“Shut up or I will rip off your head and shove it up your ass,” Derek said, his voice a low roar. 

“No, no, I’m sorry. This is just not a sight I ever expected to see,” Stiles said waving his hands out in front of him, “The big bad alpha werewolf with a diaper bag.” Stiles noticed Derek’s mutinous expression and decided it was probably best for his safety if he changed the subject. 

“Uh, you should probably check I put the carseat in right.” 

“Yeah,” Derek replied, giving Anna to Stiles and leaning over to check the carseat and leave the diaper bag in the backseat. “It’s in there right,” he said, taking Anna back and snapping her into the seat. “Alright, hon, you’re going to go with Stiles for a while, and I know he’s a little hyperactive and weird looking but you should be safe because he should know that if anything happens to you I will not hesitate to rip him apart limb from limb. I’ll be back for you later.” He kissed the top of her head briefly and pulled back out to talk to Stiles. “Take good care of her or I swear to God…” 

“Derek, I’ve got it. I promise,” Stiles said.

Derek gave him one last hard look before nodding, “Okay. I’ll be back later.” 

***

" _So....I have brought the baby home...I have set the baby on my bed....Now what do I do with the baby_?" Stiles thought to himself pacing back and forth at the end of his bed. " _Babies like keys, right?_ " he thought pulling his out of his pocket and dangling them in front of Anna. She reached out her tiny fingers and swatted at them, smiling a bit when they jingled.

"Yeah, there we go," Stiles thought. He let her swat at them a few more times but then she started crying. He picked her up in panic, trying to figure out the cause of her discomfort when a foul smell gave him a clue. He grimaced and laid her down on the floor, before walking over to pick up the diaper bag that Derek had sent with her. He rummaged around in the full bag shuffling around toys and bottles until he came across baby wipes, powder, and a clean diaper. He set them down next to her and looked at her. "Okay, so how do I do this?" he thought before assuming that the first step would be to undo her current diaper. He tore the tape that was holding the diaper together and let it fall down, the foul smell intensifying. This was definitely why she had been crying. He decided the next logical step would be to clean her off so he pulled out a baby wipe and set to cleaning her off. " _This is the most disgusting thing I have ever done in my entire life. Maybe this is why Derek is always so grumpy. He always has to clean poop off this little one. That would put anyone in a bad mood_." Stiles thought with a small grin.

 He finished cleaning her off and moved the dirty diaper from underneath her, replacing it with a clean one. " _Okay, so now what_ ," he thought. " _I guess it's time to use some of this powder_." He shook some out with a little too much force and some of it flew up in his face coating him with the white powder. He coughed a few times from it going into his throat and then looked down to notice none of it actually landed on Anna. He shook it again more gently this time, and put what he thought seemed like a good amount on Anna and then folded the diaper up securing it with the tape. "Well that wasn't so hard, I guess" he thought, picking her up and kissing her lightly on the head. She smelled better now, like baby powder and milk. He placed her back on the bed before handing her a rattle. "Here, play with that. I need to call Scott," he said to her.

She grabbed the rattle in her little hands and shook it a few times. Stiles smiled at her as he got out his phone and punched in Scott's number.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Not much, did you go by Derek's? Did he have a baby?" Scott asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's kind of long story. But listen, he and his pack are meeting with the Alpha pack at ten tonight in the preserve and you really need to go."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Derek said the Alpha pack would be more likely to leave you alone if they thought you were with Derek's pack so you aren't just some random lone wolf."

“I don’t care what Derek says,” Scott said. “He’s not my alpha.” 

“Scott, dude, I know, but you want to live right? The Alpha Pack could end up being a serious threat. Just go. Plus, you want to know what they’re up to, right? Then you won’t have to depend on Derek for information,” Stiles said. 

“Well, that is true. You really think I should go?” Scott asked, breathing out a small sigh. 

“Yeah, I do. It’s all about survival right? And this is your best shot.”

“Okay, yeah you’re right. I’ll tell you what happened later, man,” Scott said hanging up. 

Stiles’ turned back to Anna. “Well, that’s taken care of. Now, what do you need?” he asked, kneeling in front of the bed and picking up a little stuffed bear that Derek had sent with her in the diaper bag. He nuzzled it against her stomach and her face and she reached out and hugged it to her with a force Stiles would have thought was beyond such a small child. 

***

It was nearing midnight and Derek still wasn’t back to pick up Anna. Stiles had finished typing up an essay for English and was laying on the bed next to her. She was fast asleep and Stiles was mumbling softly to her to keep her calm. He was getting sleepy himself and before Derek got back he drifted off. 

He woke up about an hour later when Derek picked Anna up off the bed next to him. 

“Oh, sorry I must have fallen asleep for a little while,” Stiles said sleepily, his voice slightly croaky. 

“It’s okay.” Derek said gathering up all of Anna’s things and heading for Stiles’ window. He opened it and then paused for a moment turning around, “Hey, Stiles?” 

“Yeah,” Stiles said propping himself up on his elbow. 

Derek smiled slightly but didn’t say anything for a moment. “You’re covered in baby powder,” he finally said before turning back toward the window and climbing out. 

The next day at school Stiles met Scott outside before the first bell had rung. 

“So, what happened last night? What do they want?” Stiles asked. 

“I think they were mainly just trying to intimidate us. Derek doesn’t seem too worried, though. He thinks they’re just scouting for new pack members. They seem pretty interested in Erica which pissed Derek off, but they didn’t really pay any attention to me. What did you do all night?” he asked, catching Stiles off guard. He hadn’t decided if he was going to tell Scott about watching the baby or not, yet. 

“Oh, uh, I, I actually watched Anna. The baby that was at Derek’s….she needed somewhere safe to be while you guys were out there so it just made sense,” Stiles said, shrugging it off like it wasn’t a big deal. 

“So, there really was a baby? I didn’t think you were serious,” Scott said. “Whose is it?” 

“Well, Derek’s now….but it was his sisters,” Stiles explained. “Listen though, you probably shouldn’t tell Alison about this because what if she lets something slip to her parents. It’s not fair to put a little baby at risk like that. She didn’t ask for this.” 

“Allison wouldn’t tell, but if you don’t want me to I won’t,” Scott said. “Why are you so keen to protect it, though?” 

“Why does everyone apparently think I’m a pile of shit who wouldn’t want to protect an innocent baby? I have no ulterior motives. She just deserves to be safe,” Stiles said, irritably. 

“Whoa, okay, I’m sorry, man,” Scott said. 

After school Stiles drove Scott home and then headed to the store. He wasn’t really sure why but he had decided he wanted to buy some stuff for Anna. He headed into the store and over to the aisle with the baby toys. He picked out several things whose main point seemed to be just to make a lot of noise (mainly to annoy Derek) and then tried to pick out a few more toys that were more educational like one of those blocks where you have to put the shape through the correct hole, and a few books. 

He walked up and down a few more aisles of the store picking out some other things before he stumbled across something he knew he had to get her. It was a little stuffed wolf. Stiles threw it in the shopping cart and headed for the checkout lanes. 

A little while later he pulled up in front of the burnt out shell that was Derek’s house and headed for the front door. Derek must have heard his car though because he met him there before he could even knock. “Hey, uh, I got some stuff for Anna.” 

“You didn’t have to do that. We really don’t need anything,” Derek said crossing his arms and standing in front of the doorway.

“I know I know, we’ve been through this before, but she’s kind of irresistibly adorable. She’s trapped me with her charm and I felt compelled to go get her some stuff. Will you please let me come in and give it to her?” Stiles asked, pleading with Derek. “Besides you said now that we were bonded or whatever you would let me see her.” 

“Okay, but I swear to god Stiles if this is some kind of elaborate prank I will not hesitate to rip you open,” Derek said, stepping back slightly giving Stiles just enough room to brush past him and enter the house, “You hurt her in any way and I kill you, clear?” 

“Crystal,” Stiles said, looking less concerned than he probably should have about the threat of bodily harm. He headed down the hallway to Anna’s room and Derek followed closely behind. Stiles walked into the room and over to Anna’s crib. 

“Hey,” he said, leaning over the crib and smiling. “I got you some stuff,” he added, opening up the sack of toys and placing a little toy xylophone beside her. She reached over and picked it up, tapping it roughly with her palms. “Yeah, there you go, you’re getting the hang of it,” Stiles said, grinning hugely. 

“Did you just get her a bunch of stuff that makes noise in order to annoy me?” Derek asked, crossing his arms in front of him. 

“Hey, this isn’t about you, grumpy pants. But, uh, maybe,” Stiles said, grinning up at Derek instead of Anna for a second, “I got her some educational stuff too though. Don’t worry.” Stiles said pulling out the books and some of the other toys. “I also got her this though, and that was purely to make noise, I must admit,” Stiles said, pulling out a toy cellphone. 

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. 

“No problem,” Stiles deadpanned back at him. “I think you’re going to like this last one though,” he said, before pulling out the stuffed wolf and handing it to Anna. “Look,” he said. “It looks like your uncle doesn’t it?” Anna smiled up at them and hugged the wolf to her tightly. 

“It looks more like Laura than me,” Derek said, quietly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drudge up any pain or anything. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love that much,” Stiles said, feeling a mixture of guilt and sympathy. 

“It’s okay. I appreciate the presents for Anna. You didn’t have to do that,” Derek said. He was standing there body tensed and stiff and he looked out of place and like he shouldn’t be there even though it was his house. “Anna and I have some stuff to do, though, so,” he said, letting the sentence trail off there. 

“Oh, right, right,” Stiles said. “Important werewolf only shit, I guess?” 

“Yeah,” was Derek’s only response and Stiles took that as his hint to leave.

Stiles turned and left the room, walking outside and getting in his jeep. He decided to go pay Scott a visit. Allison was probably over there, but Stiles had made an important decision. It was time to try to stop fighting with Derek so much. He knew what he was doing and what he was talking about, and he really did seem to want what was best for Scott. If Scott was going to make it, especially now that the Alpha Pack was there, he needed someone around who was used to all of this werewolf stuff and knew what he was doing. 

Stiles had been jealous of Derek before, he had to admit. He thought Derek wanted to steal his best friend, possibly even turn him against him. He realized now, though, that what Derek really wanted was a brother, and after everything Derek had lost, Stiles couldn’t begrudge him that. 

He had looked totally lost and alone whenever he had mentioned Laura, and Stiles knew that what he really needed was a family, and Stiles knew that feeling. That’s why he held on to Scott and his own father so hard. After his mom passed away, he wanted so badly to cling onto the family that he had. 

He pulled into Scott’s driveway and let himself in the front door, waving at Mrs. McCall on his way inside. He was glad she was there, it meant that even if Allison was there, they more than likely weren’t doing much. Stiles knocked on Scott’s door, usually he wouldn’t bother, but if Allison was in there, then there was still the possibility they were doing something Stiles really didn’t want to see. After just a moment though Scott told him to come in. Stiles opened the door and walked into the room, seeing that Allison was indeed there. It looked like they had _actually_ been doing homework, though. He was really going to have to have a talk with Scott, one of these days, about squandering precious make out time on homework. 

“Scott, I really need to talk to you about something,” Stiles said, pointedly. He wanted Allison to leave. He knew she still had a grudge against Derek, and her and Scott were still on such rocky ground that if Allison said anything negative about it Scott would probably go along with her just to prevent conflict. 

“What about?” Scott asked. 

“I’d really like to do it alone,” Stiles said, glancing apologetically at Allison. 

“Allison’s not going to tell anyone whatever you have to say,” Scott said, “and I’m not going to kick her out, so…” 

“Ugh, fine. Okay, so, why exactly don’t you want to let Derek be your Alpha? Is it because you don’t want someone to control you? Because the only time I’ve ever seen Derek make one of his beta’s submit it was because they were going to hurt me. I don’t think he’d ever make you do anything. He’s a good source of information. He’s been a werewolf his whole life. Why have we always been so quick to shut him out?” 

“You’re the one who kept wanting to just kill him,” Scott said at the same time Allison sputtered out, “I can’t believe you’re trying to get him to be pack with the person who caused my mom’s death.” 

“I thought he was bad before. I will admit that. I thought that he was reckless and possibly dangerous, and I didn’t think we needed him. I thought I could find out everything you needed to know. I thought I could be your werewolf yoda, but Derek isn’t the person we thought he was, and he’s a really good source of information if you can actually get him to talk. And Allison, are you serious right now? I know you have this vendetta against Derek but I gotta tell you I don’t really understand it. Your aunt burned his house to the ground with his entire family inside it and then she teased and tortured and tormented him. Yet, he never touched a single person in your family unless they messed with him first. He even kept you safe on multiple occasions, and he didn’t even mean to bite your mom. You know what was going on when it happened, right? Your mom was trying to kill Scott. She had very nearly succeeded and in Derek’s efforts to get Scott out of harms way, he ACCIDENTALLY bit your mom.” 

“How do you know that?” Allison asked, “That’s not true. He did it on purpose. He wanted revenge. He knew what would happen if he bit her, and he only ever saved me to try to get in Scott’s good graces. That’s probably why he saves you as well.” 

“I know because I overheard him debriefing his pack on what all had happened that night. He was even planning on trying to talk to your mom, trying to convince her that she wasn’t a monster. Even after everything your family has done to his.” 

“No, you’re lying,” Allison said. She started to cry and Stiles felt kind of bad. Maybe he had gone about this too harshly. Scott glared at him. 

“Stiles, either stop being a douchebag or get out,” he said. 

“Scott, come on, man. You know I’m right, but fine, I’ll go. I’ll talk to you later,” Stiles said, angrily leaving Scott’s room. He hardly ever let his anger out like that, usually choosing to put on a fake mask of happiness and cover all his anger with sarcasm, but all of that had just been building for too long. 

The next day at school was weird. Stiles was still pissed. So, when Scott approached him before school, Stiles turned and walked the other way, hanging out in the hallway outside his first class until the bell rang. 

Then later, when the lunch bell rang and Stiles had cooled down some and he sat down at the table that Scott was already at, Scott got up and moved. Which was totally childish, and ridiculous, and Stiles knew Scott only did it because of the way Stiles had acted earlier, but it made him feel slightly panicky anyway. He wanted to get up and say something, wanted to make a joke and have everything be okay, but his chest felt tight, and his lungs felt hollow and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get the words to come out right. So, he just sat by himself and ate his pizza, and then he left, reading in the library until it was time for his next class. 

He wasn’t really in the mood to go to lacrosse practice. The day had been mentally exhausting enough, without adding physical exhaustion to it, and it wasn’t like he ever got to play anyway. He went anyway, though. He was still holding out hope that he would get to play one day and if he started skipping practices he knew that would never happen. 

He took his usual spot by Scott in the locker room but Scott resolutely tried not to make eye contact with him. Stiles just sighed and changed his clothes, feeling relieved when the coach came out. 

“We’re gonna train extra hard today guys. We’re gonna get out there and we’re all gonna do twenty laps around the field. We’ve been too slow lately. Except you Greenburg. I don’t want you running. You might trip and kill someone. You’re gonna clean the locker room.” Coach Finstock said. 

Stiles leaned over closer to Scott and whispered, “I think Coach has a little thing for Greenburg, if you know what I mean,” forgetting that him and Scott were in a fight, but Scott turned to him and laughed and just like that it was like they hadn’t even been fighting in the first place. 

That’s how it always was with them, they got mad and argued. They called each other names and pushed each other around, but unless one of them seriously screwed up, apologies weren’t necessary. They were just irritated at each other until all of a sudden they weren’t anymore. 

After practice, Stiles found himself at the grocery store, he was going to get some food and take it to Derek’s house. He walked along the aisles considering what would be the easiest to cook, since he had never really cooked anything before. He was sure Derek probably had more experience but he didn’t want to show up at Derek’s house with food and then make him cook it for him. Although the mental picture of Derek in an apron was quite hilarious, but he wanted to help. He found some macaroni and cheese and bought it along with the necessary supplies to make hamburgers and went to check out. In the line he saw a newspaper with the headline, “Wild Animal Attack Kills Local,” and picked it up, wondering if the Alpha Pack had done it and making a mental note to ask Derek if he knew anything about it. 

He checked out and headed for his car, piling in the grocery bags and heading for Derek’s house. Derek didn’t meet him at the door and Stiles took that as either a warning that something very bad had happened or a sign that Derek was becoming more comfortable with Stiles hanging around, even though Stiles wasn’t really sure himself why he suddenly wanted to so much. He attributed it to Anna though and decided to remain optimistic. He headed for the front door and knocked. He heard a low, “Come in, Stiles,” from inside so he opened the door. 

“Hey, is something wrong,” he asked, walking through the living room and into the kitchen looking for Derek. Derek was in there hovering over a rickety table looking at the same newspaper Stiles had just bought. 

“Was it the Alphas?” Stiles asked, coming closer. 

“What are you doing here this time?” Derek asked, ignoring the question. 

“I, uh, well I don’t really know, but I brought us some food, at least,” Stiles said, holding up the bags of groceries and grinning. 

“I guess since you have food you can stay,” Derek said, and Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, I’m so sure you would have kicked me out without it, considering your recent track record on the subject of letting me into your house or not,” he said. Derek just set his jaw and went to take the bags of food from Stiles.   

“Can you cook at all?” Derek asked.

Stiles felt like he should be offended by the fact that Derek would ask that, especially since he phrased it like he thought the answer was probably going to be no, but it surprisingly didn’t really bother him. He knew Derek was probably just trying to come up with the most efficient way to cook the meal. Derek always seemed to do everything in the most efficient way. 

“Well, not really, but I can probably be trusted with the macaroni and cheese,” Stiles said, “What about you? Can you cook?” 

“I’m not great or anything, but I know how. I’ve been cooking for myself for a while so I’ve picked up some skills,” Derek said, unloading the bags of groceries onto the kitchen counter.

“How do you even have electricity here, by the way? I know this house cannot possibly be up to code,” Stiles said, filling up a pan with water and setting it on an eye. 

“I know a bit about electricity and wiring so I fixed anything that was a fire hazard and then I persuaded the guy at the electricity company to turn mine on without an inspection.” 

“Wow, how did you do that?” Stiles asked, impressed. 

“I can be persuasive when I need to be,” Derek said. 

Stiles nodded, a lump rising in his throat when he realized how Derek had probably done it. He remembered the night at the police station when they needed a distraction and Derek had given the officer working the desk a huge smile, and she had practically fallen into a puddle at his feet.  

“Ah, yeah, I bet,” Stiles said, and Derek smirked in a maddening way, but he didn’t say anything else. Stiles stood by his pan of water waiting for it to boil while Derek mixed together a few different spices in a bowl and started sprinkling the mixture over the hamburger patties. 

Once he had sprinkled all of them he put them on a skillet and put them on an eye of the stove. He turned back around after that and started chopping up the onions and other things that Stiles had brought to go on the burgers. Stiles watched him work for a while before he spoke again. “Is the rest of your pack coming by tonight? I brought some extra food just incase,” Stiles said. 

“Yeah, we had some training planned. We’ve been splitting up our time between here and the abandoned rail station so that it’s harder for people to find the subway car. Tonight they’re coming here. They should actually be here soon.” 

“So, what happened with Erica and Boyd? I thought they ran away,” Stiles said. 

Derek tensed and Stiles regretted the question, he shouldn’t have pried. His dad always told him he needed to work on his brain to mouth filter. “That’s okay, you don’t have to answer,” he blurted out. 

Derek seemed to relax just a little bit, “It’s okay. They did run away but they nearly died after a run in with the Alpha Pack so they came back.” 

“Oh, okay,” Stiles said. The water he was using for the macaroni was starting to boil so he poured in the noodles. “It was uh, nice of you to let them come back. If I were you and they had left me I’d have been like ‘that’s too damn bad, deal with it yourself.’”

“They’re my pack. I can’t desert them,” Derek said, resolutely facing away from Stiles while he talked. 

“Yeah,” Stiles said. He let the subject drop there. Derek didn’t seem very comfortable in talking about it, but then again Derek never seemed very comfortable talking about anything. They cooked for a little while longer in silence. When Stiles finished the macaroni he spoke up, “I’m gonna go check on Anna.” 

Derek nodded and continued to flip the burgers, and Stiles left the room. He walked into Anna’s room and saw that she was sitting up in her crib. She was holding the stuffed wolf that Stiles had gotten for her and flailing her hand around. 

“Hey Anna, what are you doing?” he asked, coming up beside her crib and leaning over it. “Is that fun?” he asked. Anna smiled at him, before taking the wolf toy and sticking its ear in her mouth, clamping down on it. “Aw, are you teething?” She smiled at him from around the wolf’s ear and Stiles grinned back at her. He looked around to see if he could find a teething ring or something more solid for her to chew on, but he didn’t see anything so he left to go ask Derek.

When he got back in the kitchen though Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were all in there. “Hey, when did you guys get here? I didn’t hear anything.” 

“Just a few minutes ago,” Erica said, “Where were you?” she asked, hitching up an eyebrow in suspicion. 

“Oh, you know, I was just doing stuff,” Stiles said vaguely unsure of whether or not they knew about Anna. 

“Uh huh,” Erica said, continuing to eye him. 

Derek rolled his eyes. “I should tell you guys about something. Stiles, go get her.” 

“Her?” Erica sputtered, “but I thought you were into guys.”

“I am definitely not talking about a girlfriend. What do you think, I just keep some girl locked up in my room?” 

“No, but seriously, you’re not gay? When you threw me off you while I was kissing you that wasn’t because you’re into guys?” 

“That was because I’m not so hormonal that I’m gonna let you get the upper hand by distracting me with your lips or any other body part of yours. I really don’t give a fuck about gender.” 

“So you do like guys?” she asked. 

“Why does it matter so much?” Derek asked her. Stiles was supposed to be getting Anna, but he was rooted to the spot. He really wanted to know Derek’s answer to what Erica had asked. 

“Can you just answer the question?” Erica asked. 

“Fine. Guy, girl, neither, something else, I really don’t care. If someone’s hot they’re hot, and if they’re interesting they’re interesting. Okay? Can we drop this now?”

 Derek looked so threatening that if it were Stiles that had asked he’d shut up immediately, but Erica just broke out in the world’s biggest grin, looked straight at Isaac and said, “You owe me ten dollars.” 

“No, our bet was that he was gay, not pansexual. I’m not giving you anything,” Isaac said, blanching when Derek turned his glare to him instead. 

“Bullshit, you didn’t believe that he was into guys at all and he is. So, cough it up.” 

Derek just rolled his eyes, “Stiles, can you go get Anna?” he asked while Erica and Isaac continued to bicker. Stiles nodded and left the room headed back for Anna’s room. He hefted her up in his arms and carried her back into the living room where everyone else was. When he got there Erica was tucking away some money into her pocket so Stiles assumed she must have finally won the argument. As he stepped farther into the room though she noticed him along with everyone else and Isaac and Boyd’s mouths both dropped open while Erica rushed over to him. 

“Oh my god, she’s so cute. Who is she? How old is she? What’s her name?” she asked. 

Derek came up behind them. “She was my sister’s. She’s seven months old. Her name is Anna,” he answered. 

“Can I hold her?” Erica asked, holding out her hands for her. 

“For just a minute and then we have to train,” Derek replied.  

Stiles reluctantly handed her over to Erica. Erica rocked her in her arms for a few moments before sitting down on the couch. Isaac and Boyd seemed to get over their shock soon after and they both moved closer, sitting down on each side of Erica on the couch, cooing over Anna. 

“Well, she seems to be a hit,” Stiles said, moving closer to Derek, away from everyone else, a smile on his lips. 

“Of course she is,” Derek said. He looked proud, like he was her father and she had done well on a spelling test, and Stiles smiled even more at that. It was always good to see Derek looking anything other than pissed off. 

After a little while though he took a step forward and clapped his hands together, “Okay, Stiles, can you take her back? We need to get some training in.” 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, walking back over to the couch and scooping Anna up. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac all rose to their feet looking cautious. 

“What are we doing today?” Erica asked. 

“I’m going to try to teach you some proper fighting techniques. Fighting other wolves isn’t like fighting the Argents. The other wolves will know all your tricks and they’re likely stronger and faster than you. We need to fix that,” he said. 

Stiles watched as they set to work. Derek demonstrated a few different techniques and then said that Isaac and Erica should practice and he would practice with Boyd. Derek defended himself against Boyd easily enough that he was able to watch Erica and Isaac too. He shouted different things that they were doing wrong at them and after awhile he decided they should switch partners for a while. 

He started working with Erica instead and Stiles rolled his eyes as the pack failed to get certain things right again and again. He, personally, thought things might go a whole lot more smoothly if Derek told his pack what they needed to do to fix what they were doing wrong, instead of just shouting “no” at them all the time, but he wasn’t about to bring that up while Derek was in full on Alpha mode. Stiles might not take any of Derek’s shit when it was directed at him, but that didn’t mean he wanted to give Derek a reason to threaten him. 

They worked that way for several hours, until everyone but Derek was bloody and panting for breath. Derek seemed to get completely fed up by his packs lack of enthusiasm to continue at this point and he called for them to stop, “We’re done for the night,” he said, and everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Well, it’s getting pretty late. Since you guys are done I should probably go,” Stiles said, checking the time on his phone. 

“You could just stay here if you want. You’re gonna miss your curfew if you leave now. Why don’t you just tell your dad you’re staying at Scott’s and then sleep on the couch here, or the floor of Anna’s room?” Derek asked, shrugging his shoulder like it was an obvious and practical solution and Stiles couldn’t really argue with the logic even though it had thrown him off guard. 

Erica and Boyd shared a secret look behind Derek’s head and Stiles was going to have to ask them about that later. Right now, he was way too tired, though. Staying at Derek’s seemed like a really good idea. He could help out with Anna, and he wouldn’t have to go all the way home. 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll just call my dad,” Stiles said, pulling his phone back out and hitting his dad’s speed dial number. His dad answered on the third ring. “Hey dad, is it okay if I stay the night at Scott’s? He’s having girl troubles and really needs me here.” 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” his dad said. Erica, Boyd and Isaac all waved at Stiles and headed for the door as his dad went on, “I was going to be at the station till late anyway. I’ll feel better without you at home by yourself.” 

“Okay, great, I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks dad,” Stiles said, waiting for his dad to say goodbye before hanging up. 

“Well, that’s all set,” he said to Derek. 

“Where do you want to sleep?” Derek asked. 

“I guess in Anna’s room,” Stiles said, turning around and headed that way.

 Derek didn’t respond so Stiles went into Anna’s room and looked around. Her crib and some toys were the only thing in the room, and the floor didn’t look particularly comfortable. He didn’t want to back out now though. 

Derek came into the room a few moments later though, holding a couple of blankets and a pillow. 

“Here,” he said, holding them out to Stiles. Stiles took them with a smile. 

“Thank you,” he said, and Derek nodded jerkily, looking uncomfortable, before turning around and leaving. 

Stiles spread one of the blankets out on the floor and dropped the pillow. He flung himself down on top of his makeshift bed and covered up with the other blanket, bunching the pillow up and laying his head down. 

It felt strange to be there. He could see the sky peeking through the holes in the ceiling of the room. He felt a wave of nausea as he imagined all the people who had lived here before Kate Argent came along. Stiles didn’t understand how someone could be that cruel. He might have joked about killing Derek before, but he never would have actually gone through with it, and she killed children. The thought alone made him sick. He rolled over on his side so that he could see Anna’s crib. He focused in on her soft murmurings, making sure that she was still breathing, as he drifted off to sleep himself. 

A few hours later, Stiles was torn from his sleep by Anna’s loud crying. He groaned slightly and lifted himself off from the floor. As soon as he was standing, Derek rushed in the room, looking slightly more alert than Stiles did, but still absolutely exhausted. 

“Go back to sleep, Derek. I’ll take care of her,” Stiles said, lifting her out of the crib. 

Derek hovered in the doorway for a moment, but Anna stopped crying once she was in Stiles’ arms and that seemed to be the reassurance that Derek needed because he only hesitated for a moment longer before leaving the room. 

“What do you need?” he mumbled, rocking her gently. She didn’t appear to need her diaper changed. Stiles picked up the jar of baby food that was near her crib and tried to feed her a bite, but she turned her head, so evidently that wasn’t it either. “Were you just feeling a little lonely? I don’t know any werewolf bedtime stories.” 

He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, trying to soothe her back to sleep, and she grinned up at him. “You’re really cute. Did you know that? You’re probably the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.” He said the words quietly, trying to lull her back into sleep. As he continued to rock her, speaking slowly and quietly, her eyes fluttered shut. She looked like she was trying to fight it, her eyes fluttering back open slightly and Stiles smiled, “You’re very stubborn, you know that? I bet you get that from your uncle.” 

Anna’s eyes fluttered shut again, and stayed that way. Stiles smiled down at her slightly triumphant. He was afraid that when he set her down she would wake up again though. He rocked her back and forth a little while longer, letting her fall more deeply asleep, before laying her back in the crib as gently as he could. 

He crawled back into his makeshift bed and let sleep overtake him again. Anna ended up waking him up two more times in the night. Once she was hungry, and once she needed her diaper changed. Stiles took care of them both, shooing Derek out of the room each time. 

So, when he woke up the next morning for school he was more than a little exhausted. He stretched out, popping his back and feeling the muscles pull, before pushing himself off the ground and heading down the hallway. He was glad his backpack was in his jeep outside. It had allowed him to sleep late enough to just go to school directly from Derek’s instead of needing time to go by his house first. That meant he needed to ask Derek for a favor though. He could hear Derek moving around inside one of the rooms in the hallway so he knocked on the door and stood awkwardly outside it. 

“Yeah?” Derek asked, his voice gruff as though he hadn’t been awake for much longer than Stiles. 

“Can I borrow one of your shirts? I don’t want to go back to school in the exact same clothes. People are going to think I had some kind of late night booty call or something. Although, really that could help my reputation,” Stiles said, standing up a little straighter when Derek opened his door a crack.  

“Yeah. I made some eggs if you want some,” Derek said, ignoring Stiles’ comment about the booty call. Stiles smiled, eggs were his favorite. “I’ll bring you a shirt if you want to go ahead to the kitchen.”

“Awesome, thank you,” Stiles said, sneaking a glance inside Derek’s room. “Do you not have a bed?” he asked. 

“I sleep on the floor,” Derek answered simply, shrugging. A wave of sadness rushed through Stiles. Derek stayed in this hollowed out shell of his family home and he didn’t even use a bed? There didn’t even seem to be any blankets in the room, and that’s when Stiles realized that Derek had given Stiles the blankets and pillow that he usually used. He felt incredibly guilty. He had probably caused Derek to have a terrible nights sleep. 

“Oh, well, okay, I’m gonna go eat,” Stiles said, heading for the kitchen and grabbing a plate of eggs before plopping down at the table. Derek followed him into the room a few moments later, carrying a solid black shirt. 

“Here,” he said. “Thanks for helping out with Anna during the night. I haven’t gotten that much sleep in a while.” 

“It was no problem,” Stiles said, shoveling down the last couple of bites of eggs and standing up from the table. He pulled his old shirt over his head and took the new one from Derek, slipping it on. “Thanks. I’ll see you. I’ll come by soon to bring the shirt back.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek said, and Stiles wasn’t sure if they were still doing the whole, hot and cold, I hate you, I hate you not thing or if Derek just really wasn’t that worried about getting this particular shirt back for whatever reason. 

At lunch time during school he tracked down Boyd and Erica. They were sitting in a corner eating each others food and laughing. 

“Where’s Isaac?” Stiles asked them, standing next to the table awkwardly. 

“He has a different lunch period,” Boyd explained, not asking Stiles to sit down. 

“Oh, well I really just wanted to ask you two something anyway,” Stiles said. 

Erica looked up at him, “So, ask us,” she said, cocking one of her perfect eyebrows. 

“What was that look about last night?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erica said airily, the words almost songlike.

“Whatever,” Stiles said, turning to walk away, ready to join Scott for the rest of lunch. 

“Wait,” Erica said, “I don’t want you to screw this up. So, I’m just going to say this, Derek’s never asked any of the rest of us to stay because we were gonna miss curfew.” 

“What are you trying to say? That Derek has some kind of little werewolf crush on me?” Stiles asked. 

“I’m just saying that he clearly likes you better than the rest of us, or in a different way at least. Don’t screw that up,” She turned away from him then, signifying that the conversation was over, and Stiles just stood there for a moment before nodding and walking away. He went over to where Scott was eating and sat down, mulling over what Erica had just told him. 

Stiles didn’t think Derek liked him. Not in the way Erica seemed to think he did. He just tolerated Stiles better than he tolerated most other people, and that was probably just because Stiles was the only person who didn’t let Derek walk all over them. 

***

When Stiles got home from school he found a note from his dad that said he was going to be working late. He hadn’t really seen his dad much lately and it was starting to really get to him. He decided to go pick up some food for the both of them and go to the station. He dropped his backpack on the living room floor and headed back out. 

When he got to the station his dad was hunched over a bunch of open files, looking worried and frustrated. Stiles walked to the door of his office and knocked on it lightly. His dad looked up and although he looked a little surprised to see him he waved him in anyway. 

Stiles opened the door and stepped inside, “Hey, I brought you some food. Do you have a minute to eat with me?” 

“Yeah, I’m working on a pretty intense case, but I have to take a break to eat at some point. So why not now?” his dad said, putting as many of the files away as he could in order to clear a space for Stiles to put the food down. They sat down on opposite sides of his dad’s desk, and Stiles started pulling out the food. 

He gave his dad a grilled chicken sandwich and a salad and pulled out some fries for himself. 

“Why do you always sit over there with the unhealthy tempting food for yourself while you force me to eat this healthy crap?” his dad asked, his face bunched up in annoyance. 

“Because I am a teenager and I can eat this stuff without having a heart attack. You, on the other hand, well, you know,” Stiles said, trailing off when his dad gave him an angry look. “Anyway,” he said, changing the subject, “What are you working on?” 

“I can’t tell you that. Official police business,” his dad said. 

“Oh, come on, just tell me what the case is about. I can just read about it in the newspaper I’m sure anyway,” Stiles said, eating a handful of fries. 

“I guess I can tell you what the case is about, but that’s it, no details,” his dad said, “And only if you give me a couple of fries.” 

“Ugh, fine,” Stiles said, handing over a small handful of fries. 

“Alright, a couple of people have gone missing from town.” 

“Who?” 

“I’m not at liberty to go into any more detail,” his dad said, shaking his head. 

“Come on, that handful of fries was worth more information than one little measly sentence,” Stiles argued, leaning forward. 

“I could lose my job,” his dad countered and Stiles fell back in his seat, letting out an indignant huff. If his dad wouldn’t tell him he’d just have to try and snoop later, or ask Derek and see if he knew anything. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” his dad said, “I’ve got to get back to work. I appreciate the food and I’ll see you at home later, okay?” 

“Yeah, fine,” Stiles said, gathering up his stuff and leaving his dad’s office quickly. 

***

The next day Stiles decided that if he was going to be staying at Derek’s sometimes he definitely needed some kind of bed. The floor just was not acceptable for him. He went out and bought a futon and headed over to Derek’s house. He pulled up, got out, and opened up the back of his jeep so he could pull the heavy box out. The loud noise it created as it fell to the ground was evidently enough to pique Derek’s interest since he joined him outside almost instantly. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, eyeing Stiles suspiciously.

“Help me carry this in, would you?” Stiles said, ignoring the question. 

“I’m not going to help you carry some random box inside my house. What is it?” Derek asked again. 

“It’s a futon. I want to put it in Anna’s room. If I’m going to be staying in there some I want to be comfortable.” 

Derek didn’t say anything back, but there was a flash of something in his expression. He just picked up the box, though, heaving it up under one arm and carrying it inside. 

“Show off,” Stiles said under his breath, grabbing the mattress he had bought for it out of his trunk and following Derek inside the house. 

Derek lugged the box into the house and set it down on the floor of Anna’s room and ripped it open. He started taking parts out and Stiles pulled out the instruction manual trying to figure out what the first step was. 

“So, I’m trying to persuade Scott to align himself with your pack for real,” Stiles said, organizing all the different parts of the futon into piles. 

Derek rolled his eyes, “Yeah, right.” 

“No, really, I am.” 

“Why would you do that?” Derek asked, avoiding looking at Stiles, starting to put the futon together. 

“I want my best friend safe, and you’re good at the whole werewolf thing, you’re just bad at the whole communication thing,” Stiles said, “And the whole trusting people thing, and the whole not creeping on peo-“

“Stiles, shut up,” Derek said, but the corners of his mouth flicked up into what almost could have been a smile. 

***

The next day Stiles’ excuse for going to Derek’s house was that he had decided he needed a rug. He picked one out and pulled up at Derek’s house carrying it inside and spreading it out on the floor of the living room. 

Derek came in the room after Stiles had gotten it situated, “What are you doing?” 

“Nothing, I just thought you could use a rug so, yeah, I bought you one,” Stiles said. 

“Stiles, you really don’t have to buy all this stuff for my house.”

“I like it. Your house needs to be more comfortable.” 

Derek didn’t answer right away. He just stared at Stiles. After a while, though, he let out a little sigh and said, “We’re having a training session at the abandoned rail station today. Do you want to come?” 

“Yeah, what time?” Stiles asked. 

“We’re starting at six,” Derek said. 

“Okay, I’ll see you then,” Stiles said. He wanted to go try and persuade Scott to go with him, so he left Derek’s house and got back in his Jeep, heading to Scott’s house instead. 

He pulled into Scott’s driveway and jogged inside the house and up the stairs. He knocked on Scott’s door for just a second before heading inside his room. 

“Hey, so I want to talk to you about Derek,” Stiles said. 

“Why?” Scott asked, looking up from his computer. 

“Because I’ve been hanging out with him some helping with the baby, and I think you guys should work together,” Stiles said, getting right to the point. 

“Remember the time I suggested going to Derek and you smacked me in the back of the head?” 

Stiles didn’t respond he just continued to look at Scott, hoping he would realize how serious Stiles was. 

“Do you like him?” Scott finally asked after a rather lengthy pause. 

“Yeah, he’s cool.”

“No, I mean do you _like_ him?” Scott asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Oh, no, he’s just, I don’t know, he’s interesting. I want to get to know him better.” 

“Why?” 

“Because the more I get to know him the more I understand him. Yeah, he needs to loosen up and he needs to learn that some people can be trusted, but if someone burned your entire family to the ground, I think you’d have trouble trusting people too.” 

Scott just sat there for a moment, considering. 

“Listen, he knows what he’s doing when it comes to being a werewolf, and the Alpha Pack is really hardcore. Your best bet for survival is just to align yourself with him. You don’t have to let him be your Alpha but just work together.” 

“What about all the times he’s lied to me though? Or the times he said he would kill me?” 

“He’s over that. He probably just said shit like that because he was afraid you were going to give away the werewolf secret. He wants you to be on his side. That’s probably the main reason he doesn’t fight with Allison because he knows if he does there’s no way you’re going to talk to him. And he’s not going to hurt you, he’s actually saved you several times,” Stiles said. 

“Okay, I still think he’s a shit Alpha, and he’s not mine unless he proves he can get better at being one and proves that I can trust him, but I guess being on the same side wouldn’t be so bad. I’ll talk to Allison about him too. I’ll try to see if she’d be willing to call a truce with him, but if she gets mad I’m dropping it.” 

“Okay, thanks for doing this. There’s a training session at the abandoned rail station at six. I’ll pick you up before then and we can go together if you want? Allison can come to if she agrees to the truce,” Stiles said. 

“Yeah, I’ll go, and I’ll talk to Allison.” 

***

Stiles, Scott, and Allison walked through the abandoned station a couple of hours later looking for Derek, “Hey, I, uh brought some people,” he said and Derek was by his side before he could blink. 

Scott spoke before Derek could say anything, “Okay, look, I’m still not interested in you being my Alpha. You’re kind of infuriating with the way you never tell anyone anything, but it doesn’t really make sense to keep fighting against you. So, I am willing to align myself with you. I’m just not willing to let you be my Alpha.” 

Stiles halfway expected Derek to reject the offer, and he knew that would be that. He knew he would never be able to persuade Scott to come back again if that happened, but Derek seemed to know that too, because he just nodded his head slightly, “Yeah, okay.” 

Allison spoke next, “I still haven’t forgiven you for what happened to my mom, and I probably never will. But I also don’t want to kill you anymore.  I know you’re probably not wild about me after what my family has done to yours, but could we have a truce? After all, you aren’t just aligning with the Alpha Pack in order to take my family down and I appreciate that.” 

“You’re not going to try to kill me anymore?” Derek asked. 

“No, I’m following the code from now on, and as far as I know you’ve never directly killed anyone. So, that’s why I’m calling for the truce.” 

“Okay, truce,” Derek said.

“Do you believe them?” Stiles asked, and Allison and Scott turned to glare at him. 

“I thought you were on our side,” Allison said, “You know we mean it.” 

“Yeah, I know you do. I was seriously just asking him if he believes you,” Stiles explained. 

“Yeah,” Derek said, “I do. Both of their heartbeats are steady.” 

“So, do you want to introduce Allison to someone then. I think it’s been killing Scott not to be able to tell her.” 

“Yeah,” Derek said, and then louder, “Hey, Erica, can you come out here?” 

“Uh, I know Erica,” Allison said. 

“Yeah, that’s not who you’re meeting,” Stiles told her. 

Erica came in then, holding Anna securely in her arms. 

“Allison, this is Anna. She was my sister’s and I’m taking care of her now.” Derek said, as Allison’s eyes widened in shock. 

“Oh my god, she’s adorable. I can’t believe you guys have been keeping her a secret,” Allison said. 

“I didn’t think you or your parents would do anything to hurt her, but I’m not as sure about some of your parents friends and I didn’t want to take the risk,” Derek said, eyeing Anna protectively. 

“Oh, is she a werewolf?” Allison asked. 

“Yeah, and before you think I would actually perform the bite on someone that young, she was born one,” Derek said, “Like I was.” 

Allison nodded her head, looking like she was actually kind of interested, she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but seemed to change her mind closing it again, and before she had time to change her mind again, Derek called them to order. 

“We need to train quickly because the Alphas dropped by my house earlier and they want to meet with us in the preserve again in an hour. Today I want to work on you guys using your senses that aren’t as obvious to be more aware of your surroundings. I’m going to take away as much of your hearing as I can and make you close your eyes and then Stiles and Allison are going to go stand somewhere in the room and you want to be the first person who makes it over to them without tripping over something.” 

“This is almost like a game,” Scott said. 

“Except I expect it to be more like a train wreck,” Derek said and Stiles couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped his lips. 

Derek passed out some of the biggest headphones Stiles had ever seen and put a blind fold on each member of his pack. Scott hesitated to let him do it, but he looked over at Stiles who was giving him a pleading expression and he rolled his eyes before taking the blindfold from Derek and tying it around his head. 

“It should start out pretty easy,” Derek said, “You should all know both of their scents by now, and should be able to get there fairly quickly.  Finding them at all will become more of a challenge the longer we train for though, because their scent will start to fill the whole room and you’ll have to focus in one where it’s strongest. Okay, Allison and Stiles one of you take Anna from Erica and then go somewhere and everyone else I’ll tell you when to start. Put your headphones on now.”

Stiles took Anna and then he and Allison went to different sides of the room and the pack got started trying to find them. At first everyone kept nearly tripping over things or running into walls, but then everyone started remembering where things were, but the better they got at that, the worse they got at focusing on their senses enough to find Allison and Stiles. After forty-five minutes had passed it went from it taking two minutes for them to find one of them to it taking closer to seven minutes. 

“That’s enough for today. We need to head over to the preserve,” Derek said, his voice booming so that the pack could hear despite there headphones. Everyone took their headphones and blindfolds off and Scott laughed when he saw that he was about a centimeter from Stiles, but holding his hand out in the wrong direction. 

“You were so close, man,” Stiles said, laughing along with him. 

“I hope you guys learned how important it is to memorize your surroundings as soon as you enter a room from this exercise. If you had taken in your surroundings at first you would have had less trouble with tripping at the beginning and in real fight situations it can help you find a way out when danger arises.” 

“I assume you need me to watch Anna until you guys are done at the preserve. You can just pick her up when you’re done,” Stiles said. 

Derek nodded in appreciation. 

“You’re going to take Allison home too, right?” Scott asked. 

“Yeah, I will,” Stiles said. 

“I want to go,” Allison said, standing up straighter, her eyes flashing with determination. 

“If you’re there, they will try and kill you. We really don’t want that fight tonight. We’re not ready for it yet,” Derek said. 

“It’s not safe,” Scott said when she looked unconvinced. “They want to kill your entire family so having you there will just make them unreasonable.” 

Allison just stood there for a moment, watching Scott, but she eventually nodded almost imperceptibly, “Okay, but I’m not running from them and one day I will fight them.” 

“Thank you for staying safe tonight,” Scott said, pulling Allison close and giving her a kiss, “I’ll call you later and let it know how it went.” 

“You better call me too. I know I don’t kiss as well as she does, but I still want to know what happened,” Stiles said, playfully kissing Scott on the cheek before he could shove him off. 

“You’re so weird,” Scott said, wiping his cheek off, “But Derek can tell you what happened when he picks up Anna and if he doesn’t then I’ll tell you at school.”

“If you guys are all done playing around we need to leave,” Derek said, his eyes flashing angrily. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles said, “You guys have fun at your little werewolf party.” 

Scott barked out a laugh, and Isaac, Boyd, and Erica all suppressed a grin. Derek just rolled his eyes and headed out of the building. “Come on.” 

***

Stiles had been home for nearly two hours and Anna had been crying practically the whole time which had Stiles worried that something was wrong. His dad was going to be home any second, but Stiles had no idea what was wrong so he couldn’t even begin to know how to get her to stop. She kept holding her palm up to her ear and crying harder, and her little body felt warm. 

“Are you sick? Do I need to take you to the hospital? Oh, god I don’t know what to do about a sick baby. Especially a sick werewolf baby. Can I even take you to the hospital? Or do you have some freakish genes? Derek is going to kill me if I don’t figure out what is wrong with you and make it better, like quite literally rip my head off of my body,” Stiles was mumbling to himself, cradling Anna in his arms and running a soothing hand through her little wisps of hair. 

The sheriff must have gotten home because Stiles heard a knock on his door just then. 

“Coming,” he called to his dad, placing Anna safely in the middle of his bed, and whispering, “Please, please, be quiet I am begging you,” to her before going to open the door. He held it open just slightly, placing himself in his dad’s line of vision so that he couldn’t see inside the room. 

“Did I hear a baby crying?” he asked, slightly suspicious. 

“Oh, it was, uh, just a video I was watching on the internet,” Stiles covered.

“Oh, so I guess you wouldn’t mind opening your door up a little wider then would you?” his dad asked, crossing his arms and eyeing Stiles even more suspiciously. 

Stiles sighed and flung the door open. 

“Whose baby is this?” his dad asked. 

“Well, uh, dad, see, we uh, we need to have a conver-“

“Stiles, I know she’s not yours, because just the other day I heard you whining to Scott about how you’re still a virgin. Try again. The truth this time,” the sheriff said, cutting him off. 

“I’m just babysitting for someone. It isn’t a big deal,” Stiles said. 

“Then why did you try to hide her?” his dad asked.

“I thought you might give me a hard time about it. Good to know I was so wrong,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. 

“You better not be up to anything dangerous or illegal. If I hear of any kidnapped babies I’m taking you straight to the station.” 

“Do you seriously think I would kidnap someone?” Stiles asked, his jaw dropping open. 

“You already have. Does the name Jackson Whittemore ring any bells?” his father pointed out.

“That was totally different though. That was a prank. I promise I’m just babysitting. I think she might be sick though. I’m kind of worried,” Stiles admitted. 

“Why?” his dad asked, just as Anna started crying again, her tiny face scrunching up with the effort. 

“She won’t stop crying, and she’s usually really well behaved. Plus she feels kind of warm,” Stiles said. Anna reached up to grab at her ear again.

“Uh-oh,” the sheriff said, “she’s messing with her ear. She could have an earache.” 

“How bad would that be?” Stiles asked. 

“It’s pretty painful for the kid but it’s not an emergency or anything. Have you tried getting ahold of her parents?” 

“He’s not answering. I’ll keep trying though. Thank you,” Stiles said, smiling graciously at his dad. His dad nodded at him and patted Anna awkwardly on the head before leaving the room. 

Stiles sent Derek a text to let him know what was up: “ _Hey, I think Anna might have a fever and possibly an earache? Should I take her to the doctor or can werewolves not go? Does she need something for pain relief?_ ” 

Derek texted him back fairly quick “ _She should be fine. Werewolf healing powers, remember? They should kick in any second and stop it before it gets bad. I’m coming to get her though._ ” 

“Hey, it’s going to be okay. Derek is coming home, and he says that your ear shouldn’t hurt much longer.” 

Stiles took his phone back out and sent another text, “ _Also, my dad came in here earlier. So, he knows I’m babysitting, but not who for. So, up to you if you come through the front door or come around to my window or whatever._ ” 

Stiles kneeled down in front of Anna who had begun to cry again, and let her take his phone out of his hands and press a few buttons. 

“ _Those last few letters are from Anna. She says hi_ ,” Stiles added to the text and sent it. He picked up Anna and cradled her in his arms. She wasn’t crying at the moment and he wanted to keep it like that for as long as he could. He rocked her gently back and forth, and trailed one of his hands fingers soothingly down her cheek trying to keep her calm. 

Her eyes were watery and squinty from where she had been crying and her cheeks were blotched with red. Stiles felt horrible, he wished he could take her pain away. 

There was a light rapping on his window and Stiles set Anna back down on the bed so he could go open it. Derek climbed through with an athleticism that surprised Stiles even though it probably shouldn’t have. Derek was a werewolf after all. Stiles had climbed through that window many a time though, after sneaking out to meet Scott in the preserve to get drunk, or any other kind of trouble they could think of, and even after years of practice Stiles had never managed to make it through without nearly falling on his head. 

Derek picked Anna up off the bed, and she smiled up at him, her eyes flashing blue briefly. 

“It looks like she’s happy to see you,” Stiles said, smiling at them both briefly before shoving Anna’s stuff back in the diaper bag. 

“I think her earache is gone,” Derek said, touching the palm of his hand to her forehead, “and she doesn’t really feel warm. I think she’s doing better.”

“So, how exactly does the whole healing thing work with sicknesses?”

“We’re not really immune to illnesses, but the older we get the rarer it is for us to catch anything, but when we do catch something our body starts fighting it off immediately so by the time we really start feeling it we’re already pretty much over it,” Derek explained, picking up Anna’s diaper bag. 

“Lucky bitches,” Stiles said. 

“I could always give you the bite. All you have to do is ask,” Derek said, in a tone that was surprisingly playful for him.

“No thanks, I’d rather not have to have someone chain me up during the full moon,” Stiles quipped back at him. 

“Your loss, being chained up can be fun, in the right company, anyway” Derek said, his eyes flashing, and then he was ducking out the window and gone before Stiles could really put together what he had said. 

_‘Well, that was different,’_ Stiles thought. That had almost seemed like Derek was flirting with him. It was probably just some inside joke Stiles didn’t get though, some weird werewolf thing.

Derek talking about being chained up along with the way his eyes had flashed had definitely gotten his dick’s attention anyway, though, and he needed to do something about that. He palmed at himself through his jeans and the blood rushed to his dick, it hardened as he rubbed at himself more, and he pulled his jeans off, before laying back on his bed. 

He wrapped his fist around himself and tugged slowly up and down the entire length of his dick, building himself up. He thought of Derek and the hard gazes he usually fixed on Stiles and the way his lips looked, and he couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath he sucked in as he thought about how Derek’s lips would feel wrapped around his dick. 

His hips rocked up and he kept tugging steadily, flicking his wrist just the way he liked. He moved his hand faster, thinking about the way Derek had looked when he took his shirt off at training the other day, all tan skin and bulging muscles that rippled when he moved. Stiles flicked his wrist faster thinking about how those muscles would feel underneath his fingers, maybe in the shower, all slick with water and soap. 

He bit back a moan, trying to stay quiet since his dad was downstairs. His hips rocked up more, as he continued to pull faster and faster on his dick, thinking about how badly he wanted to kiss Derek, how he wanted to lick into his mouth and drag his teeth across his neck, biting down until he left a mark. 

He whimpered slightly at the thought, reaching down with the hand that wasn’t around his dick to fondle his balls. His stomach coiled pleasantly after a few seconds of that and he came, hard, with a strangled cry, come splashing up onto his stomach. 

He laid there for a while catching his breath before grabbing a shirt off the floor and cleaning himself off. After he had swiped all of the come off his stomach he threw the shirt in his dirty clothes, making a mental note to wash it in the morning, and rolled over on his side, waiting for sleep to overtake him. 

*** 

Stiles pulled up at Derek’s house the next morning, having decided to check on Anna before school, and knew immediately that something wasn’t right. He might not have werewolf senses, but something was making his skin feel prickly and the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Anna was screaming at the top of her lungs, a kind of crying Stiles had never heard anything like before, but other than that it was eerily quiet and when he looked closer he noticed there was a pool of blood on the front porch. 

“Derek,” he called, “Are you here? Are you okay?” 

He ran the rest of the way up the driveway and into the house, heading directly for Anna’s room. He was worried about Derek, but Derek could take care of himself. Anna, on the other hand, needed to be looked after, and if someone had attacked Derek, Stiles knew that he had probably done all he could to get them away from here to keep Anna safe, which meant Anna was probably alone and afraid. 

He walked through the house toward Anna’s room. He was fairly certain there was a hole in the living room floor that hadn’t been there before, and some more of the stairway railing had caved in. There was also a rip through the rug he bought for Derek that he was positive hadn’t been there before. 

He started running, needing to know if Anna was okay. He barreled through the door of her room and she was crying loudly from her crib but when Stiles got closer it didn’t look like she was hurt, just scared, and a rush of relief shot through him. He leaned over and picked her up, holding her upright against his shoulder and chest, and bouncing lightly, trying to be comforting. 

“Anna, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m sure Derek is fine too. I’m sure he’ll be back any second. We have to be quiet, okay? We don’t want the Alpha pack or whoever else it was that caused all this damage to know that you exist. We can’t put you in that kind of danger. It’s all okay. I promise you’re okay. We aren’t going to let anything bad happen to you,” he said, his voice quiet, mumbling the words like a song, trying his best to be soothing. 

Stiles heard a sudden thud inside the house and he stiffened up, adrenaline coursing through his body. 

“Stiles? Where are you?” he heard from the hallway. It was Derek. Stiles relaxed; Derek wouldn’t be calling for him if there was still any danger. 

“I’m in Anna’s room,” he answered and Derek came through the doorway just a few moments later. “What happened?” 

“One of the Argent’s friends dropped by. Apparently they missed the memo that as of right now I have a bit of a truce with the Argents. I got him outside before he saw Anna though, and I don’t think he’ll be back for a while.” 

“Okay, but what if he does come back. Or the Alpha Pack comes by tomorrow. I’ve been thinking about it and Anna isn’t safe here. The house is falling down and the Alpha pack, and the Argents and all. Plus, you know, that thing that just happened where you almost died. She should just stay at my house all the time,” Stiles said, the words coming out in a rush. 

“No, I can’t be away from her. She’s safe here because this is where I am,” Derek replied stubbornly, instinctively moving closer to Anna and taking her out of Stiles arms, holding her close instead.

“I know, I know, you’re a good guardian, but Derek, she could be so much safer.” 

“I can’t ask you to watch her overnight and everything. She needs to be with me. No, it’s out of the question,” Derek replied.

“Just come too, I don’t give a fuck, sleep on my floor or whatever. You aren’t really safe here either. I know this house means a lot to you and you don’t want to leave it, but please, to keep her safe, do it. It’s just temporary, you don’t need to stay there forever, just until things settle down.” 

Derek swallowed, forcing down all the excuses he wanted to give Stiles, “Fine,” he said, “but just because you’re right about it being safer for her, and I can pay you if you want.”

Stiles smiled and shook his head, happy to have gotten through to Derek, and happy to help without compensation. He didn’t like thinking about Anna in danger, and he wanted to do something to help keep her out of it. “No, you don’t have to give me anything. I want to help. I have to get to school now, though, but how about you pack up whatever you need and I’ll come by here after and we can go over together.”

Derek nodded, still looking less than happy, and Stiles tried to give him an encouraging smile. “I’ll be here at like three because I have lacrosse practice, too. I’ll see you then,” he said. He leaned in close to Derek so he could give Anna a quick kiss on the forehead and then he headed for the door. 

School passed in a bit of a blur, as much as he wanted Derek and Anna to come live with him he was nervous about it. It was going to be hard to keep them hidden, plus Derek still didn’t seem that fond of him and Stiles wasn’t really looking forward to living with a grumpy werewolf no matter how hot he was. 

He knew it was the right thing to do, though. He wanted Anna safe and Derek’s house was too compromised but the abandoned rail station definitely wasn’t a suitable place for a baby to live so Stiles’ house just made sense.

When the final bell rang Stiles packed up his backpack and headed for lacrosse practice. It was mainly uneventful, despite the fact it seemed like Coach Finstock was trying to kill them with a ridiculous amount of drills. After practice though he told Scott he needed to go study and headed back to Derek’s house. When he got there he went inside without knocking, knowing Derek would be expecting him. 

He walked into Anna’s room and saw Derek was feeding her, a ridiculously tiny duffel bag and a diaper bag at his feet. 

“Is that all you packed?” he asked, incredulous. 

“It’s all I need. I just need all of Anna’s stuff and then a few changes of clothes,” Derek said, avoiding Stiles’ eyes. 

“You don’t want to bring anything from the house or anything?” Stiles asked. 

“No, I’m good. Let’s go,” Derek said, holding Anna out toward Stiles, “Can you carry her so I can get her crib?” 

“Yeah,” Stiles said, dropping the previous subject since Derek obviously didn’t want to talk about it.

When they got back to Stiles’ house and had brought everything inside, Derek sat down in Stiles’ desk chair, looking uncomfortable and out of place. 

“So, uh, what do you want to do?” Stiles asked. 

“Deaton gave me some information on the Alpha Pack and I was going to look through it,” Derek said, pulling a bulky file out of his duffel bag. 

“Can I help?” Stiles asked. 

Derek looked at him for a moment before nodding his head, “Okay.” 

Derek moved over onto the bed, where Stiles had sat down and placed the file between them spreading out the pages. They got to work scouring through them and writing down any information they thought might be useful.

“Your dad is coming,” Derek said, almost an hour later, growing stiff, ear cocked towards the door. 

“No, he’s at work for another two hours,” Stiles assured him. 

“Well, I heard someone pull up and the front door shut. So, someone is here, and now they’re coming up the stairs.” Derek said. 

“Seriously?” Stiles asked. 

A few seconds later he got his answer when his dad knocked on the door and said, “Stiles, can I come in?” 

“Uh, yeah, just a second,” Stiles said. “I really don’t want to have a conversation with my dad right now about why there’s a former murder suspect sitting on my bed with a baby. Get in the closet,” Stiles hissed at Derek. 

Derek rolled his eyes, but let Stiles shoo him off of the bed and into the closet. Stiles shut the doors of the closet right as his dad came in. 

“So, what are you doing?” his dad asked, eyeing him suspiciously. 

“I was uh, just working on some homework,” Stiles said, gesturing wildly at the papers spread out across his bed, there was a small bang from the closet that sounded like Derek had collided with Anna’s crib. 

Stiles couldn’t help but wince slightly at the noise and his dad’s head turned toward the closet, “I was just rearranging some stuff, I guess a box wasn’t in there good and it fell.” Stiles explained. 

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted some pizza,” the sheriff asked, cocking his head. 

“Uh, yeah, I’ll come downstairs in a second,” Stiles said. 

His dad nodded and headed for the door, stopping right before he left, and turning toward him, “Tell the girl you have hidden in the closet that she’s welcome to some pizza as well.” 

Stiles scrubbed a hand through his hair, “Crap.” 

His dad just laughed and left the room. 

As soon as he was gone, Derek walked out of the closet. 

“I shouldn’t have hidden. Now we look guilty. What are we going to tell him?” 

“I don’t know I’ll think of something. Just come on,” Stiles said. 

They walked downstairs together and when they entered the kitchen Stiles’ dad nearly choked on his pizza, “Why was Derek Hale stuffed in your closet?” 

Stiles racked his brain until he came up with the only explanation that would make any sense to his dad besides the truth, “Well, uh, Dad, we have something to tell you,” he said, inching closer to Derek and wrapping his arm around Derek’s waist. Derek stiffened beneath his touch as Stiles kept talking, “We’re, uh, dating.” 

“What happened to that Lydia girl you’ve been in love with since third grade?” his dad asked. 

“I liked her, but she didn’t like me, and I finally just grew out of my crush on her,” Stiles said, shrugging closer to Derek, trying to get him to relax so that they looked more believable. 

“I didn’t even know you liked guys. Not that it makes a difference to me or anything,” his dad said. 

“I wasn’t sure I did until recently,” Stiles admitted. 

“Okay, well, I feel the need to point out that he is in his twenties and you are under eighteen,” his dad said, fingering his sheriff’s badge. 

“Dad, please, we’re not, you know, I mean, I’m still a virg-. We’re not having sex, okay? He treats me well,” Stiles said, and for some reason Derek seemed to relax beside him, slinging an arm around Stiles’ shoulder. 

“Okay, but Derek, you hurt him in any way shape or form and I will throw your ass in prison,” his dad said. 

“Noted,” Derek said, “I don’t plan on that being necessary.” 

Stiles’ dad nodded his head and Stiles slid out from Derek’s arm so he could grab some pizza. Derek got some too and they headed back upstairs. 

“That was the best you could come up with?” Derek asked, glaring at him harshly, once they were back in Stiles’ room. “You would have been better off just telling him the truth.” 

“I didn’t know if I could. I didn’t know if you had actual legal custody of Anna and I didn’t know how my dad would feel about an accused murderer living in his house.” 

“Well, for the record, I do have legal custody of Anna, but I’m not sure about your dad either. You didn’t even have to tell him I was living here though. You could have just said I dropped by to tell you something. I guess it’s not the end of the world for your dad to think we’re dating, though, now that you said it, as long as we don’t give him any reason to arrest me.” 

Stiles nodded and took a big bite of his pizza, “Right. Admit it, it was a good idea.” 

“I don’t know if ‘good’ is exactly what I would call it but I’ll give you ‘okay’” Derek said. 

Stiles grinned, that was the closest thing to a compliment you could probably ever expect to get from Derek. 

***

A couple of days passed without the sheriff realizing that Derek was actually staying in the house all the time. He thought that Derek came over a few hours after Stiles got home and that he left when it was time for Stiles’ curfew. His dad was getting along better with Derek than Stiles had thought he would, which was good, what wasn’t good was that the heat in Stiles’ house was broken. 

It had been staying a pretty decent temperature, so Derek had been sleeping on the floor in front of Stiles’ bed with an extra blanket and Anna had been sleeping with a couple of extra blankets, ones that Stiles had found from when he was a baby, tucked around her in her crib. 

Toward the end of the week, though, it got steadily colder. On Friday, when it hit the lowest temperature of the winter so far, and Stiles was getting ready to get in bed and he saw Derek getting ready to crawl into his makeshift bed on the floor he rolled his eyes.

“Derek, what the hell are you doing? It’s like 20 degrees outside, the heater is broken, and you’re seriously going to sleep on the cold floor? You’re being ridiculous. Come up here,” Stiles said lifting the blanket up and patting the bed next to him, “I promise I’ve had my cooties shot.”

“My body naturally stays pretty warm no matter how cold the air is,” Derek replied adjusting the pillow and laying back down tensely. 

“Well, then get up here and lend me some of your warmth. I’m like a fucking ice cube,” Stiles said. 

Derek just looked at him for a moment like he was having an intense argument with himself before he said, “If it’s really going to bother you _that much_ I guess I’ll come up there.” 

“Thank you,” Stiles said, and Derek crawled into the bed, laying stiff as a board on the very edge of the mattress. Stiles just rolled his eyes at him before curling up beside him, pressing his freezing cold toes against Derek’s leg and his fingers under Derek’s shirt. 

“Sorry, I’m so cold,” Stiles said, feeling Derek tense up underneath him. 

“It’s okay. I just didn’t realize I was signing up for cuddling when I told you I’d move up here,” Derek said, a playful edge creeping into his voice. 

“Hey, If it bothers you, I’ll back up,” Stiles replied, shifting slightly.

“No,” Derek said, sternly curling an arm around Stiles, “I was joking. You are worryingly cold and believe it or not I don’t actually want the only person who is semi-nice to me to freeze to death.” 

“I only put up with you because of Anna,” Stiles joked but Derek tensed and removed his arm from him. 

“Derek, wait no, stop, I swear to god that was a joke,” Stiles said. 

“No, it’s okay, go to sleep,” Derek said, curling his arm back around Stiles, looser than before.

A few hours later Stiles woke up when Derek rolled out of bed. 

“Sorry, I’m just checking to see if Anna is still warm enough,” he said. 

“No, it’s okay. How is she?” Stiles asked, stifling a yawn.

“She seems to be fine,” Derek said tucking the blankets around her tighter and crawling back into bed. 

Stiles nuzzled in closer to Derek and drifted back to sleep. 

The next time he woke up it was because his dad barged into his room saying loudly, “Stiles, I need to ask yo-“ before cutting off mid sentence in surprise as he registered what he was seeing. His eyes moved from Stiles to the half awake form of Derek to Anna’s crib. 

“Meet me downstairs in five minutes, all of you. It seems like we have something to talk about,” he said before leaving the room. 

“Well, that should be a fun conversation,” Stiles said, climbing out of bed and pulling on a red sweatshirt. It was still freezing in the house.

Derek changed Anna and threw on a few more layers of clothes and together they headed down to face the Sheriff. 

He was waiting for them in the living room, “So, what is going on?” 

“I’m sorry dad. I should have told you, but listen Derek and Anna here really need a safe place to crash for just a couple of weeks and they don’t have anywhere else to go,” Stiles said trying to placate his dad. 

“So, were you lying about dating?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just didn’t know whether or not you’d let a former murder suspect live in your house.” 

“Okay. After all I taught you to help people, and I guess that applies to murder suspects as well, but only falsely accused ones just so we’re clear,” he said. Stiles smiled at him. 

“Thank you.” 

“Yeah, but if you guys aren’t really dating, then why were you sleeping together? And does that mean you don’t really like guys?” his dad asked. 

“It was cold,” Stiles said, “I do actually like guys, though.” Stiles said, truth be told, he liked Derek specifically but since Derek didn’t like him back his dad didn’t need to know that part. 

Derek looked at him like he was almost relieved, but Stiles wasn’t sure why. It was probably just relief at everything being out in the open and them not having to hide anymore, though. 

Anna started crying then and Derek said, “She’s probably hungry,” before leaving the room. He came back a few moments later with a jar of baby food and a spoon. 

“I’m pretty hungry too. Do you guys want donuts?” 

“Yeah, that sounds great. But I swear to god, dad, you better not eat any more than two of them. I will ask Mr. Fields how many you bought. Don’t think I won’t,” Stiles said. 

“Oh, I know you will,” his dad said, putting on his jacket and heading outside. 

Once the door shut Stiles turned back toward Derek, “It’s so cold in here,” he said. “I think there’s a space heater somewhere. I’m going to go try and find it.” 

Derek nodded and Stiles got up and headed for the basement. He barreled down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and started digging around in the boxes. In the first box he opened he found a photo album from when he was younger that he hadn’t looked through in a while. His dad had put them away after his mom died and Stiles hadn’t gone looking for them because he wasn’t ready to see a bunch of pictures of his mom. He thought he could handle it now though, so he tucked the book up under his arm and continued looking for the heater. 

He moved around a few more boxes and found it buried under a spare blanket his dad had moved down into the basement because his mother had used it so much when she was sick, wrapping up in it while she sat on the couch, that his dad couldn’t bear to look at it anymore. 

He picked up the heater and went back up the stairs with it, “Derek,” he said when he got back in the living room. “I found the heater. It’s tiny though so it’ll probably work best if we go in my room and shut the door. You coming?” 

“Yeah, Anna feels really cold. So, that is probably a good idea,” Derek said. He had evidently finished feeding her while Stiles had been downstairs because he was bouncing her on his knees, but he stopped and picked her up, standing up and walking with Stiles to his room. 

Stiles plugged in the heater and flopped down on his bed. “I guess I should work on my homework. What are you going to do?” he asked. 

“I found some files of your dads downstairs. I’m gonna look through the case he’s working on and see if I can get any new information about the Alpha pack from it.” 

“That is way more interesting than homework. Give me some of it,” Stiles said making grabby hands in Derek’s general direction. 

“Fine, since we don’t have much time till your dad gets home. Be sure and tell me anything important, though,” Derek said, handing him half of the papers from the file. 

They set in relative silence for the next fifteen minutes, the quite shuffling of papers and Stiles’ voice when he came across something worthy of Derek’s attention, the only sounds filling the room. Stiles reached the end of his stack of papers at the same time Derek sat up straighter in his chair.

“What?” Stiles asked. 

“I think I hear your dad’s car. I need to put this back,” Derek said, organizing the papers in his hands and taking the ones he had given Stiles back too. He shoved them all back in the folder and ran out of the room. He came back empty handed just as Stiles’ dad’s key rattled in the front door. 

“Here pretend you’re quizzing me,” Stiles said, handing Derek his chemistry book. 

Derek opened it up and asked Stiles the first question he saw just as Stiles’ dad came into Stiles’ room. He looked between them both suspiciously. “Seriously you’re studying?” he asked. 

“Yeah, I have a big chemistry test tomorrow,” Stiles said, grinning reassuringly at his dad. 

His dad still looked kind of suspicious but he just set down the box of donuts and left the room. Stiles stood up and got one out, grabbing another one and handing it to Derek. 

“So, did you learn anything useful from that?” Stiles asked sitting back down on his bed and taking a bite out of the donut. 

“Not as much as I had hoped. I learned that one of the Alphas really was killed by one of the Argents though,” Derek said. 

He ate his own donut in two easy bites and looked over at Stiles in a way that made him squirm, an unpleasant itchy feeling spreading over his skin as he tried to figure out what was up. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Stiles asked. 

“What we told your dad before, about you and me being…together…have you ever…you know what never mind,” Derek said, shaking his head. 

“No, what?” Stiles asked motioning for Derek to come sit down next to him. Derek hesitated for a moment before getting up and sitting back down on the bed, as far away from Stiles as he could get without falling off the edge. 

“Have you ever….thought about it for real” Derek asked. Stiles was quiet for a moment before he spoke. 

“This is totally a trick question. You’re going to punch me if I say no or laugh about it if I say yes,” Stiles said, sticking out his lip in a pout. 

“No, I just, you bought me a rug for my house, and a futon for you to sleep on in Anna’s room, then you offered to let me move in with you…and I just…do you like me?” Derek asked his expression hard. He was trying hard to make it seem like  an offhand question that didn’t really matter one way or the other, but Stiles had always been really receptive of other people’s emotions and he knew that his answer mattered a lot to Derek. 

“Yeah,” he nodded, swallowing noisily, “I do.” 

Derek looked up at him with widened eyes, “Okay.” 

“Okay?” Stiles said, snorting, “That’s it?”

“I mean, I, you know, same,” Derek said, and from anyone else it would have been kind of pathetic, but Stiles knew how hard it was for Derek to talk to people, and he had made an effort and the fact that he had been the one to bring it up in the first place was all Stiles needed. He moved closer to Derek, and Derek seemed to move into him at the same time and they were closer than Stiles had expected and then Derek’s hands were on his cheeks and Derek’s breath was on his lips. Derek’s eyes were closer than he had expected, and so wide, searching his, making sure this was okay and Stiles wanted to speak, wanted to say ‘yes, this is fine go ahead’ but he couldn’t catch his breath. He sucked in the best breath he could manage under the circumstances and just nodded and then Derek’s lips were on his, gentle at first and then harder and then Stiles was kissing him back and his head was swimming. His thoughts caught up to him after a few moments and he pulled back, instantly missing the warmth of Derek’s lips against his. 

“Uh, you know, that was good. Kissing is a thing we should do more often, but we probably shouldn’t kiss in front of the baby,” Stiles said, laughing, “It’s a little awkward.”  

“What do you want to do then? What was that thing you brought up here earlier?” 

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. It’s a photo album. I was gonna look through it, but you probably don’t wann-“ Stiles started but Derek cut him off. 

“No, I want to see,” he said. 

Stiles hadn’t expected that, “Oh, okay, awesome,” he said, picking it up from where he had dropped it earlier and opening it up. 

“This was my first day of kindergarten,” Stiles said, pointing to a picture of him standing outside a classroom with a backpack that looked three sizes to big for him. 

“How long after this picture was taken did you meet Scott?” Derek asked. 

“Actually, six years. Everyone thinks we’ve been friends since pre-school but we actually met while my mom was in the hospital. He was always getting dropped off there by his dad to wait for his mom to get off and I was always there with my dad visiting my mom or waiting out in the waiting room while she got tests ran. Scott’s dad always brought him right from school, the asshole wouldn’t even let him go by his house to get something to do. So, I noticed him sitting there with nothing to do one day and I asked him if he wanted to play with my DS for a while and we’ve been best buds ever since.” 

Derek didn’t reply but he nodded his head like he was interested so Stiles turned the page, “This is my mom,” he said, pointing to a picture of a dark haired, honey eyed woman holding a baby. 

“She was gorgeous,” Derek said, grinning over at Stiles, “You look a lot like her. Is that you she’s holding?”

“Yep, that’s me,”  Stiles said, smiling back at Derek. 

They looked through the rest of the album, and Stiles told Derek a story for nearly every picture. He kept expecting Derek to get bored, but he seemed to be genuinely interested in all the stories about his past that Stiles wanted to tell him, and the fact that his stories were interesting to anyone, let alone to Derek was a little mind boggling to Stiles. 

When they finished with the album he closed it up and went to look at the time. He was surprised at how early it still was. 

“I’m going to go talk to Scott. I want to tell him about us,” Stiles said, getting off the bed. 

“Do you want me to come?” Derek asked. He looked like he was about to blanch at the prospect though, and Stiles needed to do this alone anyway so he just shook his head. 

“No, I think he’s gonna be a little surprised and it’s probably best if you’re not there. Plus, someone has to watch Anna,” Stiles said. 

Derek nodded, looking relieved, but he grabbed a hold of Stiles’ hand and pulled him toward him, kissing him briefly. 

“I’ll see you later,” he said. 

Stiles nodded and gave him another quick kiss before straightening up and leaving the room.  

Stiles was relieved when he got to Scott’s house to see that no one else was home. He let himself in and ran up the stairs to Scott’s room, knocking on the door before barging in. 

“Hey, I need to talk to you,” he said. 

Scott had been doing some kind of homework assignment but he looked up from his book, “So, talk,” he said. 

“So, Derek and I are kind of, uh, _together_ now,” Stiles said, turning so that his back was to Scott, fully prepared for him to be angry. Not because he was bi, he was pretty sure Scott had already guessed that was the case, after all he’s been dropping hints for years, but because of who he had chosen. 

“Tell me you’re fucking with me,” Scott said. 

“Actually, I just told you I’m fucking with Derek. Well, not yet, but hopefully one day,” Stiles said, turning back towards Scott just in time to see him shudder. 

“Yeah, I never need to hear you say that again. Stiles, come on, you know you could do better than him, right?” Scott said. 

“And what’s so wrong with him?” Stiles asked.

“He’s a psychopath. He killed his uncle. He bit Allison’s mom. He doesn’t tell anyone anything about being a better werewolf. He says he’s going to but then he just plays maddening games with you. I talked to Isaac and he said it’s pretty much the same in their pack training sessions even when I’m not there. He definitely doesn’t seem one to discuss feelings and go on dates and just you could do so much better.” 

“He killed his uncle because his uncle was a murdering psychopathic loon who killed his sister and several other people. And for the rest of what you said, so what if he’s not good with words. He’s trying to make you guys better werewolves by getting you guys to pay attention and use all of your senses and really take in what he does tell you, and yeah maybe he could work on his communication skills and learn to tell you guys more of the important information but can you really blame him for not trusting anyone?” 

“Yes,” Scott said. 

“Okay, well I actually don’t mind his communication skills because now that I’ve made an effort with him and gotten him to actually trust me a little he does talk to me more. And I don’t care if I could do better in your eyes because he’s the one I like, and I thought if anyone could accept that it would be my best friend. I know you and him aren’t exactly chummy, but he makes me happy, Scott.” Stiles paused there and Scott opened his mouth to speak, still looking like he disapproved, a frown spread across his face. 

Before he could say anything, though, Stiles spoke again, “You know, I was starting to think that I was never going to get an actual crush on anyone else after Lydia and then Derek comes out of nowhere and he blindsides me, and he drives me up the wall at first, and I was so upset that a guy that was that fucking hot was so fucking annoying. But then I started actually listening to him, and actually paying attention and I realized how hard he works to keep everyone safe. He’s saved my life more times then I can count, and yours, and he’s asked for nothing in return, and then I sit there and I think about all the times that he begged us to help him, saying we needed to keep him alive because he could help us, and I realize that he doesn’t think he’s worth anything to anyone. I realize that he said all of that because he couldn’t trust us to save him just because it’s the right thing to do. Even though that’s what he always did for me and for you. And I feel like shit, because I spent all this time being mad at him, and hating him, and thinking he was terrible, when really he’s not so bad. And we just fit together, you know? We make each other laugh, and where I’m all relentless energy and flying thoughts, he’s more grounded and he thinks things through, and we just compliment each other and keep each other on our toes. And can’t you just accept that?” 

Scott looked like he had more to say, but he seemed to realize how much this meant to Stiles because he just stood there for a second and then nodded his head, “Yeah, okay, I guess I kind of get it, but I swear if he hurts you, I’m gonna kill him, and I will tell him that myself at training tomorrow.” 

Stiles grinned slightly, “Thank you.” 

For the next few weeks Derek planned training sessions for almost every day. The Alpha Pack had been quiet for a while and it was making them all uneasy. It felt like they were planning something big and Derek wanted everyone to be prepared if something happened. 

Stiles, Scott, and Allison went to most of the training sessions as well. Stiles and Allison helping out in similar ways to how they had the first time. 

Derek had taken to sleeping in Stiles’ bed with him every night and sometimes the training sessions would run late and he wouldn’t be there when Stiles would go to sleep, but he’d wake up every time that Derek slid underneath the blankets, and he’d tangle their limbs together, always falling more deeply asleep after that, satisfied that they’d both made it through another day without any more trouble from the Alphas or from the Argents. 

***

After school one day, Stiles came inside the house and dropped his backpack by the door. He’d take it upstairs later. 

“Dad, are you home?” he called, shuffling through the mail he had picked up, it was all for his dad though. 

“We’re in here,” his dad called from the kitchen.

“We?” Stiles asked. 

“Yeah, we,” Derek’s voice chimed in. 

‘ _Well, this should be interesting_.’ Stiles thought as turned the corner and tossed the mail on the kitchen table. Derek was pressing out hamburger patties and his dad was peeling potatoes. 

“So, uh, what are you guys doing?” Stiles asked, crossing his arms across his chest and looking between the two of them suspiciously. 

“Cooking,” his dad answered simply. 

“Your dad said you really liked burgers and I happen to like cooking them so we thought why not cook dinner?” Derek expanded. 

“Oh, yeah, I remember we cooked them together before. I just didn’t realize you guys were so close,” Stiles said, cocking his eyebrow as he continued to look between them both. 

“Yeah, well I got home early and I heard Derek up in your room with the baby and I thought it was kind of ridiculous for us to keep ignoring each other. He might have been arrested at one point, but he clearly didn’t actually commit the crime, and you, ya know, seem to care about him a lot, so I thought I should get to know him some and see why,” his dad said, and Stiles could see Derek trying hard not to smile. They had told Stiles’ dad that they were actually dating now a few days after it happened and his dad had commented he was getting whiplash from all the changes to their story but he had smiled and Stiles knew he was happy as long as Stiles was.

“I mainly just like him for his body, though, and I don’t want you to get to know that,” Stiles joked. 

Derek just rolled his eyes, but his dad barked out a harsh, “Stiles.” 

“It’s okay, Sheriff, I only like him for his jokes, so we’re even,” Derek quipped back easily. 

“I don’t get a compliment on my body? I feel so gypped,” Stiles said, an easy smile spreading across his lips. 

“Eh, I guess you’re okay looking,” Derek said, and the sheriff barked out a laugh. 

“Okay, I’m starting to see why he likes you so much,” he said, filling the pot of potatoes up with water, “Stiles do you wanna help us out here?” 

“I need to take a shower, but I will when I’m done, if you guys aren’t finished already,” 

Stiles’ dad nodded so Stiles assumed it was okay for him to leave. He ran up the stairs and into the bathroom, peeling his clothes off and turning on the shower. He stepped underneath the warm water and let it soak into his skin, washing away all the sweat and dirt from lacrosse practice and all the stress from his classes. His mind wandered to Derek while he was soaping himself up, but he forced himself to think about something else before his body could react. He didn’t want to spend too much time in the shower. He didn’t want Derek and his dad to wonder what he was up to in there and he was also nervous about Derek and his dad talking and he wanted to get back down there and mediate. 

Stiles finished washing off and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off before wrapping it around his waist to go to his room for some clean clothes. 

When he walked into his room Derek was in there by Anna’s crib. He had expected him to be downstairs still so he jumped in shock, letting go of his towel, which subsequently fell to the floor. 

“Damn, you scared me,” Stiles said, flailing for the towel and pulling it up and back around himself. When he stood back up to his full height and looked at Derek, Derek was dragging his eyes up Stiles’ body and it made him flush and feel warm all over. 

“Your dad sent me up here to tell you dinner was ready. I was getting ready to come knock on the bathroom door,” Derek said, licking his lips. 

“Well, then we should probably get downstairs,” Stiles said, clenching the towel tightly around his waist. 

“Just one thing real quick and then I’ll leave you to get dressed,” Derek said, stepping forward. When Stiles didn’t move Derek leaned in and kiss him. Stiles let go of the towel to place his hands on Derek’s waist, pressing his fingertips into his back and pulling him closer, and the towel fell to the floor. 

“I just wanted to see you naked one more time,” Derek said, breaking apart from the kiss and sweeping his eyes down Stiles’ body. 

“That was a dirty rotten trick,” Stiles said, in mock offense, shoving Derek backwards playfully. 

Derek didn’t reply, he just gave him a look like he wanted to do absolutely filthy things to him and left the room, leaving Stiles shaking with lust. 

***

“So, did you have fun hanging out with my dad earlier?” Stiles asked, scooting to the edge of the bed so his face is hanging off the edge, next to Derek’s. Derek was sitting on the floor, playing a game on Stiles’ PlayStation 3. 

“Yeah,” he’s pretty fun,” Derek said, “I don’t think he likes me that much, though.” 

“What, why?” Stiles asked, moving closer to Derek, his breath caressing his cheek. 

“He’s a police officer, and I’m way too old for you, not too mention I’ve been arrested before,” Derek said. 

“Yeah, but you heard him earlier, he doesn’t care about the arrested thing because he knows you didn’t do it,” Stiles said. 

“I guess, but I’m still too old for you,” Derek said, pausing the game and turning toward Stiles more. 

“But older men are so hot,” Stiles protested, moving in for a kiss. Derek moved so that he was on his knees so that he could reach Stiles’ mouth better, and Stiles cupped his hand behind Derek’s head dragging him closer. Derek dragged his tongue across Stiles’ bottom lip and Stiles made a small pleading noise against his mouth before sucking Derek’s bottom lip between his. Stiles smiled briefly against Derek’s lips before pulling away and nodding his head toward Anna’s crib. 

“We should stop,” he said. 

“She’s such a little cock block,” Derek said.  

“First of all, I can’t believe you just said cock block and second of all, shhh she’ll hear you,” Stiles replied. 

“It’s not like she knows what it means,” Derek said, his mouth turning up at the corners. 

“Whatever,” Stiles said, “Bet I can kick your ass at Mortal Kombat.” 

“You’re on,” Derek said, a smug smile spreading across his face. 

The next day when Stiles pulled into the school parking lot he saw Scott standing by the bike rack. Allison wasn’t with him yet so he hopped out of his Jeep so he could ask him something while he had the chance. 

“Scott, can you do me a huge favor?” he asked, coming up behind him.  

“That depends. What do you want?” Scott asked, turning to face him.  

“Well, okay, so my dad is going out of town tonight on official police business, so, uh, Derek and I are going to have the house to ourselves if you know what I mean. So I wanted to have a few hours to take advantage of that fact without having Anna around to worry about taking care of. Could you babysit her for just, like, two hours?”

“I’m supposed to hang out with Allison tonight,” Scott said, “but thanks for the mental image of you and Derek. I really needed to have that with me all day.”

“You can both watch her, please just do this for me. Derek and I never get to do anything. Do you want your best friend to be a virgin forever? Is that the kind of life you want for me?”  

“Allison and I were kind of planning something,” Scott said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Ugh, come on man, please, judging by everything you’ve told me you guys have plenty of opportunities to hook up. Derek and I are always having to worry about Anna. You guys could hang out for a while and then I could bring Anna. Please? I’ll do your chem homework for a week,” Stiles said, lacing his fingers together as though he were praying, his mouth flicking down into a pout, “Be my wingman. Help me get laid.” 

“Ugh, okay fine, fine,” Scott said, “Just stop talking about your sex life or the lack thereof.”  

Stiles nearly tackled him in a hug, “Thank you”  

“Yeah, yeah, just call me before you bring her over,” Scott said, gently throwing Stiles back off of him. 

***

“Scott agreed to look after Anna so we could have a bit of a break. Do you want to take her over there now?” Stiles asked, after he had been home for a while. He had been working on a chemistry assignment that was due the next day while Derek went through some of Stiles’ dad’s police reports to see what else he could find out about the Alphas. 

Stiles had wanted to look through them with him but his grade was starting to slip in chemistry and he really didn’t want his dad to find out and start worrying about him. Plus, his dad was going to be gone all night, he could still help look through them before his dad got home.

“Does Scott even know how to take care of a baby?” Derek asked. 

“I think Allison is going to help him out,” Stiles said, but Derek looked unsure. 

Stiles took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Derek’s shoulders, hugging him loosely, so that he could still look at Derek’s face. 

“Derek you’re a great uncle, but you deserve a break every once in a while to relax and just do something fun. Scott and Allison are more than capable of taking care of her. She’ll be perfectly safe with them I swear to you,” he said. 

“I just need her safe, but I guess Scott can keep her safer than most people. What’d you have planned?” Derek asked. 

“How about I give you a little sneak peek?” Stiles said, his breath hot in Derek’s ear. He trailed his lips down Derek’s jawline, pushing him back toward the bed. He pressed his lips to Derek’s neck, rough and quick, trailing his lips lower. He grabbed Derek’s shirt between his teeth tugging it lower so that he could kiss more skin. 

Suddenly, though, he was on his back, Derek having flipped them over. Derek pushed Stiles’ chin back with the top of his head and bit into his neck roughly, but not to the point that the pain was unpleasant. He sucked on it for a few moments, probably leaving a mark, but Stiles couldn’t find it in him to care at the moment. Derek straddled him but lifted his head up, grinning at him. 

“Are you sure you’re a virgin? You sure know how to push people’s buttons,” Derek said, a mischievous grin spreading across his lips. 

“Well, I mean, I do have a lot of experience with making out now, thanks to you,” Stiles responded, sliding his fingers underneath Derek’s shirt, pressing his cold fingertips into the curve of Derek’s back. 

Derek trembled slightly and pressed harder against Stiles, and just then Anna began to cry. Her shrill voice cutting through the room. Stiles rolled his eyes. 

“So, when can they take her, again?” Derek asked, climbing off of Stiles, but looking back over his shoulder at him. 

“Now,” Stiles said.

“Now is good,” Derek responded, handing Anna to Stiles, “Can you try and figure out what’s up while I gather her things.” 

“Yeah,” he said, setting Anna on his knee and bouncing her lightly, “hey there, what’s wrong?” he asked. Anna hiccuped, and for a moment it sounded as though she was gonna stop crying, but then it was back, louder than ever. 

“Are you hungry?” he asked, shifting Anna so that he could carry her in one arm and grab a bottle with the other. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Derek, heading for the doorway, “I’m gonna see if she’ll eat.” 

“Yeah, okay, I’ll be ready to leave by the time you’re done with that probably,” Derek responded, throwing a few more toys into her diaper bag. 

Stiles headed into the kitchen and sat Anna down on the floor, needing both hands to prepare the bottle, she sat up, and stopped crying for a moment but she started again the second Stiles turned his back. He put a pan of water on the stove to boil and then cleaned out the bottle. After the water came to a boil he took it off the eye and let it sit there for a while so that he wouldn’t burn himself trying to get it in the bottle. 

After he took it off the eye, he picked up Anna, who was still crying, and laid her down on the counter, tickling her stomach. She flailed her arms around and kicked and a brief smile flashed across her lips as her eyes changed to blue for just a moment. Stiles held out both his index fingers and let her grab onto them, wrapping her tiny hands around them tightly. He moved her arms apart a little bit and nuzzled his face against her, blowing raspberries against the soft skin of her stomach. 

Anna stopped crying altogether, giggling instead and Stiles pulled his fingers out of her grasp carefully. When he turned back around, Derek was leaning against the doorway, watching them. 

“Wow, creeper, are you going to help me out with the bottle or not?” Stiles asked, smiling at him. 

“You’re good with her. It’s….cute,” Derek said, looking like the word felt weird in his mouth. He closed in on Stiles and pulled him into a hug. 

Stiles rolled his eyes, and pulled away. “You’re really just a big ol’ softie aren’t you, Alpha Wolf.”

“Honestly, I’ve just missed having a family and it feels nice to sort of have one again, with the pack, and with Anna, and with you,” Derek said, “You tell anyone else that, though, and you are never ever getting laid, at least not by me.” 

“Oooh, you’re so romantic. Catch me, I’m swooning. Relax, your alpha-ness, I have no intention of revealing your secret soft side to people. You can cut out the threats. They never worked on me anyway,” Stiles responded, setting the bottle in the sink and pouring the water into it. He scooped some of the formula powder into it, screwed the cap on and placed a finger on the opening, shaking it up. 

He splashed some out on his wrist so he could check the temperature, “It feels fine.” he said, picking Anna back up and handing her the bottle. She took it happily and flailed her arm shaking it up a bit, before placing it to her mouth and taking a drink. 

“Okay, she should be better now. Let’s go to Scott’s,” Derek said, heading for the front door. 

They all piled out of the house and into Stiles’ jeep. Derek’s camaro was staying at his old house to make it harder for people to figure out where he was staying now. 

When they got back to Stiles’ house after dropping Anna off, Derek collapsed onto Stiles’ bed, “I am so fucking tired,” he said. “Who knew that raising a child and scheming against a pack of Alphas was this exhausting?” 

Stiles kicked off his shoes and crawled onto his bed as well, snuggling into Derek’s side, “You’re going to fall asleep,” he said as Derek wrapped his arm around him. 

“No, I won’t,” Derek replied, “I just want to lay here a second,” he said, his eyes blinking shut. 

“Sure, sure,” Stiles said, a grin spreading across his lips, as he nudged his forehead against Derek’s shoulder trying to get comfortable. 

“I just want to close my eyes for just a sec-,” Derek said, his voice low and gravelly, his chest vibrating against Stiles’ ear. 

“You didn’t even manage to finish that sentence. You’re drifting already,” Stiles said. Derek deserved a break more than anyone he knew, except maybe his dad, though. So, he just snuggled closer and closed his eyes, deciding he could give him thirty minutes. 

***

When he woke back up he snaked his way from underneath Derek’s arm to grab his phone and groaned when he noticed the time. 

“Shit, Derek, we’ve been asleep for three hours,” he said. 

Derek squirmed a little bit beneath him, “What are you talking about, Stiles,” he asked, his voice low and sleepy. 

“We’ve been asleep for three hours. We’re gonna have to go pick Anna back up. I’m gonna be a virgin forever,” Stiles said, whining slightly and throwing his arm over his face. 

He texted Scott with his other arm, holding the phone away from his face, “Fuck, sorry, I didn’t mean to make you watch her this long. Are you guys okay? We’ll be by soon.”

Scott texted back fairly quickly, “It’s fine. I just really don’t want to know what took you guys so long.”

Stiles sent back, “Nothing. We did absolutely fucking nothing. We fucking fell asleep.” 

“You serious?” Scott replied.

“Ugh, yes don’t rub it in, dude. The cosmic entities apparently don’t want me to get any ever,” Stiles sent back. 

“Is Anna okay?” Derek asked, stretching out beside Stiles. 

“Yeah, she’s great. I guess we should go get her,” Stiles said, he started to get up when his phone buzzed again. 

He looked down and saw that Scott had replied with, “I can watch her for a little while longer, but dude, you so owe me.” 

He sent back a quick, “Thank you. You’re the best. Whatever you want is yours. Your wish is my command.” 

He turned back toward Derek, “Scott said he can watch her for a little while longer,” he said, trailing his palm up Derek’s thigh over his jeans. Derek grabbed Stiles by the shoulders and flipped him around, pushing him onto his back. 

“That’s nice of him,” he said, straddling Stiles and pressing a kiss beneath his jaw. Stiles breathed in deep and slow trying to calm his nerves. Derek had a lot of experience with this and Stiles knew nothing except what he had seen in porn and he was terrified he was going to do something stupid and mess this up. 

“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice quiet and his breath warm on his ear, “you’re sure about this, right? You trust me, and you want this and everything?” 

“Yeah, no definitely. I’m just a little nervous. You trust me too, right? You don’t think I’m gonna turn around and pull a Kate on you, do you?” 

“No, no. I’m older now, and I know how to use my senses and instincts better. I think I would know by now if you meant me or Anna any harm. Why are you nervous?” 

“Isn’t everybody their first time?” Stiles asked, “Well you probably weren’t since you have nothing to worry about with that body. Even if you did do something wrong I’m sure no one would notice because they’d be too distracted trying to enjoy the view.” 

“Believe me, I was nervous. I threw up in her bathroom before the first time I had sex,” Derek said.

“Oh my god, dude, are you serious? That is truly terrible. Although it’s seeming more and more like a possibility for me as well,” Stiles said. 

“Relax,” Derek said, “you’re going to be amazing.” He moved his head so that he was hovering over Stiles’ face again and leaned in for a slow but desperate kiss. “See, super easy so far,” Derek said, grinning slightly and pressing another kiss below Stiles’ jaw. He sat up and grabbed the bottom of Stiles’ shirt, pulling it over his head. He lowered his head and peppered Stiles’ chest and stomach with kisses. 

Stiles squirmed pleasantly underneath him, scrabbling at Derek’s shoulders, pulling him back up to eye level. He slid his hands on both sides of Derek’s jaw and pulled him closer, kissing him deeply. Derek sucked his lower lip between his, and bit it gently, before flicking his tongue over it and sucking on it. Stiles slid his fingers into Derek’s hair and tugged a little. Derek groaned slightly and Stiles pulled back from the kiss, tugging Derek back down to him and scraping his teeth against Derek’s neck. 

He bit down on Derek’s neck and sucked for a moment. Derek groaned again and Stiles grabbed for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head, and biting down on Derek’s shoulder. Derek moaned slightly and pushed Stiles gently off of him, rising up so that he was sitting on Stiles’ waist. Stiles watched as the purple mark he had left on Derek’s shoulder healed itself, the blood that had risen to the surface fading away. 

“That was awesome,” Stiles said as he reached out his hand and ran it down Derek’s chest and abs. “This isn’t fair. How do you look like that?” Stiles asked.

Derek just rolled his eyes and wrapped his fingers around Stiles’ side, “How do you look like this?” 

Stiles opened his mouth like he was going to respond, but Derek leaned back down and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ chest, sliding further down his body as he kissed his way down Stiles’ stomach, and Stiles shoved anything he was thinking about saying back down his throat. 

 Derek pressed a line of kisses above the waist of Stiles’ pants, pausing above the button to nip gently, pulling some of Stiles’ skin between his teeth. 

“Ugh, fuck,” Stiles said, reaching down to run a hand through Derek’s hair, twisting his fingers into it and pushing down, needing Derek so much closer. 

Derek moved down just a little bit more and unbuttoned Stiles’ pants, dragging them down a little bit with his teeth. He nudged Stiles’ dick through his underwear with his nose, and breathed out of his mouth heavily. Stiles could feel the rush of breath, warm and moist, and he squirmed more beneath him, whimpering slightly. 

“Ugh, fuck, Derek, please?” Stiles said. 

Derek was back up at eye level before Stiles could even blink, “This is okay, right? You still want it?” 

“Yes, fuck, yes. I’ll let you know if I change my mind, I promise,” Stiles said, lifting up off the bed slightly so he could press a reassuring kiss against Derek’s mouth. Derek pushed Stiles back down against the bed and Stiles smiled into the kiss. “So pushy and rough, but I’m not complaining,” he said, only pulling back slightly from the kiss so that they’re lips brushed on some of the words. 

Derek tilted his head and pressed a kiss behind Stiles’ ear, “Well I’m glad to hear that,” he said, “because I like it rough.” 

He nipped at Stiles’ earlobe, tugging on it, before moving back to his neck. Stiles could feel Derek’s stubble rubbing against his neck and he trembled slightly as Derek bit him again, a little harder this time.

“Ugh, yes,” Stiles said, scrabbling his fingers over the button on Derek’s pants, there were just too many layers of clothing involved in this still. Derek moved out of his reach though and dragged Stiles’ pants and boxers completely off instead. He pressed a kiss to the inside of Stiles’ ankle, pressing more up the line of his leg, and then nipping gently at the inside of his thigh. Stiles’ legs were extended as far as he could stretch out and he was pressing his feet down, lifting off the bed a little bit, trying to get closer to Derek. 

Stiles’ heart was racing, and if he knew Derek at all, he knew all of his senses were on high alert right now, taking in everything about this moment, and he hoped that Derek was listening to his heartbeat. Hearing it get faster in response to how incredibly good all of this felt. He hoped he could hear the way his breath kept hitching, hoped he could hear his quiet whisper of, “I care about you so much,” as Derek nosed his legs farther apart. He hoped that Derek could feel the goosebumps erupting all over his body, and the way his body was practically humming with anticipation. 

Derek nosed at his dick and Stiles breathed in sharply, arching his back off the bed roughly.

“You’re still okay?” Derek asked, looking up at him with widened eyes. 

“Fine, great, yes, awesome, just please don’t stop,” Stiles choked out, running his fingers through Derek’s hair and pushing him back down. Derek ran his tongue down the length of Stiles before taking the head of his dick into his mouth. He slid his lips down as far as he could before bobbing back up again and Stiles let out a loud groan. 

“Fuck, fuck, yes, fuck, Derek, that feels amazing,” Stiles said, practically panting between words. Derek took Stiles’ balls in his hands and fondled them gently, rubbing them, and pulling just slightly while he continued to bob his head down and back up again over Stiles’ dick. 

“Ugh, that feels so amazing,” Stiles said, jerking his hips involuntarily. Derek continued to move his hand in the same way as he took Stiles’ dick deeper into his mouth, almost choking on it. He hummed slightly and Stiles gritted out a, “fuck fuck fuck, that’s so good,” and Derek smiled slightly. Stiles wanted them to come together the first time they did this though so he pushed at Derek’s shoulders nudging him off of him before it was too late, and reached down for Derek’s pants button, undoing them and sliding them off his legs. 

Derek went to grab his own dick, but Stiles swatted his hand away, “I want to try,” he said and Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand and started to move it closer to his dick. “Can I try with my mouth?” Stiles asked nervously. 

Derek swallowed hard, looking like he wasn’t quite prepared for that, but nodded his head, falling onto his back on the bed next to Stiles. Stiles moved so that he was the one hovering over Derek and kissed down his stomach. He pressed a soft kiss to Derek’s balls causing him to gasp and then he slid his mouth all the way down Derek’s dick, taking in pretty much the whole length. 

Derek groaned loudly and said, “Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” 

Stiles smirked a little around his dick and Derek thrust up into his mouth. He might not have done this before, but he had watched a lot of porn, and maybe practiced on a few popsicles. Derek didn’t need to know that, though, Derek could just think Stiles was some kind of crazy natural at blowjobs. Stiles pushed Derek’s legs farther apart, so that he could position himself better between them, and took as much of his dick in as he could, humming slightly the way Derek had and was rewarded with Derek thrusting his hips up a little, his fingers turning to claws and scratching at the bed, as his eyes glowed red. 

Stiles hadn’t expected that to happen. Derek was always so in control of his werewolf transformation, but apparently something about Stiles’ mouth around him had completely broken him. It apparently surprised Derek a little bit too, and while Stiles hardly ever shied away from danger he was a little afraid of what would happen if Derek lost the rest of his self control. 

He sat up, on Derek’s waist, their dicks side by side, and reached out to start stroking Derek’s with an open fist. Derek reached out as far as he could and took Stiles’ dick in his hand, moving it slowly. They were jerking each other off at the same time. Groans falling out of both of their mouths. Stiles’ sped up his pace, jerking Derek as fast as he could, and Derek followed suit, moving his fist quick and loose over Stiles’ dick. Stiles was panting and sweaty, a total wreck. 

He pushed into Derek’s fist as fast as he could, rolling his hips again and again and Derek, did the same to him. Then before he could even cry out a warning, before he saw it coming, there was a warmth spreading out from his belly and he came all over both of their hands and stomach. He sped up his pace on Derek’s dick again and Derek followed a few seconds later. 

Stiles rolled off of Derek, laying on his back, trying to catch his breath. He felt clammy and totally spent, but happier than he had felt in a long time. 

“That was so fucking incredible,” Stiles said, his grin nearly splitting his face in two. He turned his head so that he could see Derek and Derek was smirking over at him. 

“It was,” Derek agreed, and Stiles squirmed beside him happily. “I guess we should go get Anna now, though,” he said, lifting himself off the bed. He left the room for a second and came back with a damp washcloth. He swiped it across Stiles’ stomach cleaning him off and Stiles jerked away, surprised by how cold it was. 

“Sorry,” Derek said, cleaning the rest off quickly and turning to get rid of the washcloth. 

“Hey,” Stiles said. 

“Yeah?” Derek asked, turning back to face him. Stiles grabbed his hand and tugged him back down on top of him, pressing a hard and fast kiss against his lips.

“I just wanted one more kiss,” he said, sliding out from under Derek and standing up, picking his clothes up off the floor and pulling them on. 

When they got to Scott’s house he opened the door with a smirk on his face and Anna in his arms. “So, did you guys finally manage to get something accomplished without falling asleep?” he asked. 

“Oh yeah, we got something accomplished alright,” Stiles said, “I’m gonna be sore for a while,” he added on, jokingly. 

“Okay, you can shut up now,” Scott said, wincing.

“You’re just jealous because my boyfriend’s super hot and you know he’s probably fantastic in bed,” Stiles said, “Plus, look at how big the parts of him you can see are and think about how big the parts you can’t see are.” 

“Oh my god, Stiles shut up,” Scott said, looking like he was close to passing out. “Are you going to let him talk about this?” he asked, moving his gaze to Derek. 

“I don’t control him, and he’s complimenting me, so why not?” Derek said, a smirk firmly set on his lips. 

Stiles laughed and Scott just shuddered, “Please just take Anna and leave.” 

“Okay, okay, we’re going,” Stiles said. 

They walked away, but Derek turned around as they went to get back in Stiles’ jeep and shouted, “Training, tomorrow at five.” Scott nodded and Stiles and Derek climbed the rest of the way in the car, buckling Anna in and driving away. 

***

A couple of days later Stiles got out of lacrosse practice to see he had a text from Derek, “I had to check on something at my house. Your dad is watching Anna.” 

Stiles got in his jeep and drove home wondering what Derek could have needed to check on at his house. He parked his car in the driveway and climbed out hurrying inside. 

“Hey dad,” Stiles called, “How is Anna doing?” 

“She was sleeping in her crib as of 20 minutes ago and I haven’t heard anything over the baby monitor so probably good,” his dad answered from the living room. 

“Okay, thanks for watching her. I’m heading up there,” Stiles called as he headed up the stairs. He heard his dad grunt in response and he took the stairs two at a time, rounding the corner a little too soon, and nearly falling over as he entered his room. It felt chilly and he looked over at his window and noticed it was open. He dropped his backpack on the floor and headed over to close it, thinking his dad must have opened it for some reason earlier and just forgot to close it back. 

Stiles closed it down and turned back around looking at Anna’s crib for the first time. It was empty. 

“Oh my god,” Stiles said. He ran back to the staircase, “Dad, you said she was in her crib, right?” he called. 

“Yeah,” his dad replied, “Is she not there?” Stiles could hear him getting up. 

“Uh, no. Maybe Derek got her. I’m going to call him. The window was open did you do that? Search the house, please,” Stiles called, pulling out his phone and dialing Derek’s number at the same time he headed back to his room. 

“I didn’t open the window, no. I’m calling the station. Let me know if you get ahold of Derek,” his dad called back. 

Derek answered on the second ring and Stiles immediately started talking, “Derek, did you come get Anna?” 

“No, is she missing?” 

“Yes, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I came home and the window was open and she wasn’t in her crib. My dad called the cops and we’re searching the house incase she’s here,” Stiles said, fumbling some of the words in his haste to get them out. 

“Call Scott and ask him to meet us at your place, I’ll gather the rest of the pack and be there as soon as possible. We have to try to pick up a scent trail,” Derek said. Stiles could tell he was trying to sound business like, like he always did when talking about pack stuff, but Stiles could hear the panic edging it’s way in. 

“Okay, I’ll see you in just a minute, and Derek…we’re gonna find her,” he said. 

“Yeah,” Derek responded briefly before hanging up the phone. 

“Dad, she’s not with Derek,” Stiles called down as an update, while he dialed Scott’s number. 

“Okay, a bunch of officers are on their way. We’re gonna search the neighborhood,” his dad replied as Scott answered the phone. 

“Listen, Scott, you have to get to my house now. Someone took Anna. I’ll explain more when you get here, but we need you,” Stiles said, not even bothering with a hello, there wasn’t time. 

“I’m on my way,” Scott said, hanging up without another word. 

Stiles went back in his room to check it and make sure she hadn’t just escaped her crib and crawled somewhere. Maybe this was all just some kind of misunderstanding, or a sick attempt at a joke by someone. Before Stiles could look much further, Derek barreled into his room, followed closely by Isaac, Boyd, and Erica. 

“The Alpha Pack has been in here,” Derek said, his tone formal, trying hard to remain informational, “Well, maybe not the whole pack, but I definitely smell Kali, at least.” 

“Well, I definitely didn’t invite them over for a tea party, so I guess that’s our kidnappers,” Stiles said. 

“I think I can keep up with the scent,” Derek started as Scott came in the room.

“Sorry, it took me a little while. There are a lot of cops here. I had to shift back when I got too close and run like a human or risk being caught. Allison is going to help too, though. She’s nearby waiting for me to call her and tell her what she can do.”

“Scott, you and Allison come with me. We’re going to follow the scent that I’m picking up. This seems too easy, though. They might have covered an old scent trail and left us this one to make us go the wrong direction on purpose. Isaac, Boyd, and Erica I want you guys to spread out. One of you go to the preserve, one of you go to the warehouse they’ve been staying at, and one of you go to our training ground. First sign of trouble, or of Anna and you shift and howl, the rest of us will come to you immediately,” everyone nodded their understanding except Stiles.

“And what about me?” he asked.

“Just stay here. If they come back, call us,” Derek said. 

“No, my dad will have someone stay here, I’m sure. I’m going with you,” Stiles said, he stuck his head in his closet and dug around until he found an old baseball bat, “When we find Anna someone needs to be able to take her and get her out of harm’s way before the fight goes down. I can do that.”

“Fine, we don’t have time to argue, let’s go,” Derek said.

They decided it would be best to go through the front door. The sheriff was bound to notice they weren’t there anymore eventually, and they could easily say they were just going to look for Anna, which was even true. They headed down the stairs while Scott called Allison and told her to meet them at the door. 

When they got downstairs the Sheriff wasn’t even there, but he had left an officer at the house so Stiles approached him, “Hey, let my dad know that we left to look for Anna. We couldn’t take just sitting here waiting, but I don’t want him to think something happened to me.” 

The officer nodded, “Sure thing, but Stiles, be careful.” 

Stiles nodded and headed back for the door, heading outside with Derek and Scott. Allison was hovering beside the door waiting for them, a crossbow in her hands. 

“So?” she asked as they came outside of the door. “Where is the trail?” 

“This way,” Derek said closing his eyes for just a moment and breathing deeply, “Just follow me.” 

Derek was practically running, but a part of him seemed to be reminding him that there were humans with him and that he had to go a manageable speed because Stiles was able to stumble along behind him. “It seems like the scent trail is heading in the direction of their warehouse, so if it’s not a fake then at least we’ll have someone else to help as soon as we get there,” Derek said, taking a sharp turn and heading into a patch of woods. 

Stiles tripped over a tree branch but picked himself back up quickly, remaining close behind the rest of the group. “We’re almost there. I can almost hear them. I can hear one of them talking but we’re still a little too far away to pick out which one exactly or be able to tell exactly what they’re saying. The fact that they are actually there and talking though seems to rule out the possibility that this is a false trail which is just really weird.” 

They walked a little bit farther in silence before Derek hushed them all, “I can now hear them pretty clearly, which means if they’re focusing, they can hear us, stay as quiet as possible.” 

Everyone made their footsteps as light as possible and practically held their breath as they moved in closer. Derek began to mumble what the Alphas were saying quietly for the benefit of Stiles and Allison who couldn’t hear it for themselves, “They do have her. They knew about her because they heard her crying that day when you came to my house before school, Stiles. The day that you told me I should come live with you to keep Anna safe. They were hanging around my house and saw that guy come in and wanted to see what I was doing with him. They’ve been planning this since then. They had planned on coming back and planting a false trail. They were going to make it look like the Argents had kidnapped her and they had saved her from them. It was a plan to get me angry at the Argents so that I would come over to their side and fight against the Argents with them. They know we’re after them now though, and it was a pretty weak plan anyway. Your parents don’t even know about Anna, and I would have given you the benefit of the doubt long enough to hear your heartbeat remain steady while you told me you didn’t kidnap her. I wouldn’t have believed them, so this was all a wasted effort on their part.” 

They were close enough now to where Stiles knew the Alpha’s lair was that he knew they could hear Derek. He tightened his grip on his baseball bat, and got ready to fight. They rounded another corner and the warehouse appeared in front of them. Erica was just arriving from a different direction and everyone split up, headed for different doors of the warehouse. 

They all paused briefly by the doors waiting for Derek’s signal and when he howled they all burst in. The Alphas all sprung into action and Stiles looked around for Anna. There was an old wooden box in one corner and Stiles could hear crying from that general location so he took off for it. 

One of the Alphas, Kali, he assumed, shot out in front of him and he pulled up the baseball bat and swung it as hard as he could connecting it cleanly with her arm. He heard the bone snap and while it would heal before long it caused her enough pain that she staggered backwards. 

Stiles took the opportunity to run for it. He reached in the old box and picked up Anna whose eyes flashed blue at the sight of him. He pulled her out tucking her securely in one arm and keeping a tight grip of the bat with the other one. Everyone was keeping the other Alphas pretty well occupied but Kali’s broken arm had healed and she was closing in on Stiles. He raised the bat again and when she lunged at him he missed her, spinning in a rapid circle.

She laughed cruelly at him but Stiles sneered back, “Maybe I missed, but so did you, and I don’t have any werewolf powers helping me. I wouldn’t be so quick to laugh, if I were you.” 

She grinned evilly at that and a chill shot through Stiles at the sight of it. She lunged for him again, a feral cry escaping her lips. Stiles raised his bat again, and this time it connected with her side and Stiles heard a sickening crunch as her ribs broke. Kali fell on the floor and Stiles took the opportunity to run out of the warehouse. He ran as fast as he could toward his house, tearing easily through the same path they had just come through, remaining extra conscious or tree branches and roots. He didn’t want to trip with Anna in his arms. 

As Stiles made it back into his neighborhood he slowed down, taking out his phone to call his dad. His dad picked up halfway through the first ring, “Stiles is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, dad we found her. I’m almost back home. Tell everyone they can go. It was just some kids playing a prank and since they didn’t hurt her Derek doesn’t want to press charges or anything,” Stiles lied. He had to make up something, if he told the cops where they were they’d rush over there and see that Scott and Derek were werewolves. 

“Are you guys sure that everything’s fine? They aren’t holding you hostage or telling you to say that are they Stiles? You can tell me if they are. I will find you,” the sheriff said through the phone. 

“No, no, dad, I promise. It was just some stupid kids. I’m actually walking up our driveway now. I’m about to walk through the door. You can call whatever officers are here to verify.” 

“Okay, I’m on my way home to check on you, Stiles. I’ll see you soon,” the sheriff said, hanging up the phone. Stiles headed through the door and up the stairs. When he walked through the doorway of his room he was surprised to see that Derek had beat him back home. 

“They gave up fighting when you two got away,” Derek explained. “They’re actually considering leaving Beacon Hills completely for the moment. They still have a vendetta against the Argents, but they’re talking about coming back when they have backup since we’ve made it pretty clear we won’t help and can’t be tricked. I came back here as fast as I could though. I’m so happy you two are safe. You were pretty impressive with that bat, you know?” 

Stiles laughed, dropping it to the ground with a clatter, now that things seemed safe again. “Yeah, Anna seems fine, but you aren’t. Your forehead is bleeding.” Stiles said, moving closer to Derek, swiping his thumb over the cut on his forehead. 

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be all healed up in no time. I’m just glad Anna’s okay,” he said. “The Alphas wouldn’t have gotten off so easily if they had hurt her.” 

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Stiles said, grinning slightly. 

“Hopefully you never have to be reminded of that,” Derek joked, tugging Stiles closer by the bottom of his shirt, and kissing him lightly on the temple. Anna began to cry in Stiles’ arms and they pulled away and smiled down at her, happy to move back into their usual pattern of taking care of her. 


End file.
